Cross‐sector service use patterns among children with developmental disabilities in a district in Canada.

CHILD development deviations; DEVELOPMENTAL disabilities; DESCRIPTIVE statistics

Background: There is a lack of information about cross‐sector service use by children with developmental disabilities despite their need for services from multiple sectors. Methods: Responses to service use questions from a parent‐completed survey on school‐aged children who attended clinics specific for those with developmental disabilities at a Canadian children's hospital were examined. Results: School meetings were the most common of three professional meeting types attended in the last 12 months (64.9%) for the sample of 205 children. Recreational services were the most common of five service types received in the same time period (79.0%). Using ordinal logistic regression models, a higher number of behavioural difficulties was the only variable consistently related to indices of more meeting types (school, physician, other) attended and more service types received (recreation, respite, etc.). Conclusions: The service relationship with behavioural problems, and not socio‐demographic variables, is consistent with a needs‐based oriented delivery system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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