Pediatric chronic diseases--stealing childhood.

摘要

Perhaps the most surprising finding is that there is no clear definition of chronic health conditions in childhood..The Systematic Review by van der Lee and colleagues1 involving 64 articles found 4 frequently used concepts, which varied in their reliance on types of conditions, duration of disease, impact on daily activities, and requirements for services. The main distinction was between definitions based on a list of diagnoses vs those based on functional limitations resulting from various conditions. The prevalence rates in these studies ranged from 0.22% to 44%, depending on factors such as how the definitions were operationalized, who provided the information for the study, the type of data gathered, and the year of the study.