Unscheduled healthcare for children with intellectual disabilities: A systematic scoping review

Abstract

Background: The provision of unscheduled healthcare for children with intellectual disability is less researched than that focused on hospital settings or for adult services. The aim of the scoping review was to map the evidence base in this area and identify areas for future study.

Causal relationship between health insurance and overall health status of children: Insights from Pakistan

“…Nevertheless, the effects of having health insurance on the increase in the frequency of municipal health station visits, the number of visits for groups with health insurance at provincial hospitals, and the number of visits to health facilities for health checks and consultations were sensitive to unobserved characteristics. A similar methodology was employed in a recent study by Nicholson et al ( 69 ), which found that children with intellectual disabilities were no more likely than children without intellectual disabilities to have seen a general practitioner or emergency room in the previous 12 months. The Mother and Child Health Handbook (MCH) was determined by Kawakatsu et al ( 70 ) as a helpful tool for enhancing Kenyans' health literacy and health-seeking behavior.…”

Patterns of health service utilisation by children with intellectual disabilities require specific responses to reduce health inequalities

“…To improve practice, there is a need to ensure that health professionals have the clinical skills and competencies to provide assessment, care and support for a population with complex physical health concerns 3. Without these developments, the hospital utilisation and length of admission and the associated financial costs will remain a concern to be addressed, increasing health inequalities which impact on hospital and health service utilisation and poor health outcomes for people with intellectual disabilities 1 4 5…”

Factors that affect GP referral of a child with intellectual disability for a mild illness: A discrete choice experiment

“…The review highlighted that non-clinical factors relating to patients, GPs and health systems did influence GP decision making when referring to the ED. To ascertain any issues specific to primary care for children with intellectual disabilities, a scoping review was conducted to map the literature regarding children with intellectual disabilities and unscheduled health services such as primary care (Nicholson, Conlon, et al, 2022). The scoping review revealed a dearth of literature regarding GPs' experiences with children with intellectual disabilities, however, it did highlight that parents do experience inequities, and that parent-level factors can impact care received.…”

“…The evidence pertaining to children with intellectual disabilities' attendance at the ED is unclear as disaggregated data specific to this population are often unreliable due to poor coding in administrative systems or under reporting of intellectual disability (Emerson & Hatton, 2013; Nicholson, Conlon, et al, 2022). Some research suggests that children with intellectual disabilities are 1.8 times more likely to use inpatient services and the ED compared to the general population (Lindgren et al, 2021) and they have higher rates of non‐emergency surgery admissions (Glover et al, 2019).…”

“…There is limited research on the experiences of GPs providing care for children with intellectual disabilities (Nicholson, Conlon, et al, 2022). A lack of skills and training has been identified as a key challenge (Altman et al, 2018; Freed et al, 2009; Lennox et al, 1997), as well as limitations on a GPs time and capacity to support families (Altman et al, 2018).…”