Project Description:
In this project, we use statewide, administrative databases to examine questions of health and family dynamics for two groups of individuals. Our data for this project come from several Tennessee state records, over periods of up to 19 years. These records include the Birth records of all 82,000+ TN births per year (1990-2009), 60,000+ Death records, Hospital Discharge Records (approximately 1 million per year, 1997-2008), as well as Marriage (75,000 per year, 1990-2009) and Divorce (40,000/yr, 1990-2009) records. In addition, we are "linking" such records together to examine various individual issues (e.g., a child's recurrent hospitalizations over time) and family issues (divorce within particular families). So far, we have examined (1) The amount, timing, and correlates of divorce among families of children with Down syndrome; (2) Hospitalizations in the child with Down syndrome's first two years of life; (3) Infant mortality among infants with Down syndrome (amount, timing, and correlates); and (4) Family reproductive patterns following the birht of the child with Down syndrome, with spina bifida, or with no identified disabilities. By detailing characteristics of family and child health in Down syndrome, our research is beneficial for conceptualizing and implementing a variety of social and medical services.
Over the past year, we have expanded our analyses of Tennessees data for the National Core Indicators (NCI) project. That project surveys 400-600 individuals with disabilities who receive services from the Tennessee Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Analyzing data from the last three years of this project (2013, 2014, and 2015), we found information on health, on treatment, and provision of services that should be helpful to DIDD for planning and monitoring its adult-disability services.
Keyword(s):
Down syndrome, spina bifida, families, divorce, health, infancy
Unserved or Under-served Populations:
Racial or Ethnic Minorities, Geographic Areas, Rural/Remote, Specific Groups
