AN ECOLOGIC STUDY OF THE CAUSES OF MORBIDITY RESULTING IN OVERNIGHT DISPENSARY STAY IN A BOARDING SCHOOL FOR HANDICAPPED CHILDREN.

摘要

A descriptive epidemiological approach was used to determine the frequency of morbidity among a cohort of 1,590 handicapped children enrolled in the South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind, a state-supported boarding school. The purposes of the study were to look at the health experience of the students, to determine the causes of overnight stays in the school's infirmary over a four-year period (September 1974-May 1978), to identify the segment of the school population most affected, and to propose a program directed at primary intervention.;The findings are as follows. Respiratory illness was the principal cause of overnight stay, followed by other infections and parasitic diseases. Most of the overnight stays were among children aged 5-13. Approximately equal numbers of male and female were admitted for overnight stays. Most overnight stays were by blind students, even though most students in the school were deaf. Most of the children were white. The length of stay in the infirmary averaged more than two days for respiratory illness and not more than one day for all other categories of illness. Out of the 19 cases of accidents recorded, 18 involved deaf children and one involved a blind child. Seasonal distribution showed most frequent utilization of the infirmary during spring and winter.;These objectives were accomplished by looking at the incidence of morbidity requiring overnight medical care through the examination of medical records of the student health center at the school. For each episode of illness, the following patient information was collected: date of admission, cause of admission, length of stay, race, handicap, and dormitory.