Rural and Racial/Ethnic Differences in Children Receiving Early Intervention Services

Abstract

A review of the literature shows that racial and ethnic minority children (eg, African American, Asian, and Hispanic) received diagnoses for developmental concerns later in life compared with their age-matched white counterparts. Research has also documented disparities in access to and receipt of health care services among children with developmental concerns as compared with children with other disabilities.

Objectives: We examined health care providers' (HCPs') responses to parents' developmental concerns about their children. We looked at the association with race, ethnicity, gender, rurality, and time to diagnosis.

Methods: All data were secondary and derived from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Survey of Pathways to Diagnosis and Services. Participants consisted of 1321 parents of children who had received early intervention services as reported by respondents' data collected in 2011.

Results: From a nationally representative sample of families receiving early intervention services, 76% were white, 10% were African American, 3% were Asian, 5% were Native American, and 9% were Hispanic. Families who were Hispanic were more likely to have received only a delaying response from HCPs. The average time to a developmental delay diagnosis was 5 months longer for families who received a delaying HCP response.

Conclusions: Families who were Hispanic or who were from rural areas were most likely to receive a delayed HCP response; for parents who received a delayed HCP response, a developmental delay diagnosis took 5 months longer than for families from the other groups listed.