School Absenteeism Screening in the Healthcare Setting: Linking Education and Medicine

IF 1.8 4区医学 Q2 EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Journal of School Health Pub Date : 2025-08-04 DOI:10.1111/josh.70052

Victoria E. Goldman, Jacqueline Antoun, Panteha Hayati Rezvan, Kevin Fang

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

School absenteeism and health have a close bidirectional link: children with medical conditions miss more school, and chronic absenteeism is tied to poor health outcomes. Despite rising absenteeism, tools to assess school attendance in healthcare settings remain underexplored. Brief, standardized attendance screening may help address this gap.

Methods

A school attendance screening tool was integrated into the electronic medical records at two clinics. Charts of 699 patients (ages 5–17) from October 2022 were analyzed for screening completion, attendance patterns, and absence reasons. Two or more absences per month were considered a positive screen for chronic absenteeism risk.

Results

Attendance screening was completed in 70% (n = 489), with no significant demographic differences between screened and unscreened. Approximately 15% (n = 72) screened positive for chronic absenteeism risk. The most common reasons were acute (62.5%) or chronic (11.1%) medical issues. Asthma was more prevalent among those who screened positive (p = 0.023).

Implications

Healthcare-based attendance screening is feasible, although opportunities remain to increase provider screening. Given high rates of medically related absences, healthcare providers are uniquely positioned to identify and support youth at risk.

Conclusion

Integrating screening into routine medical care can enable early interventions for absenteeism, improving health and educational outcomes.

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医疗机构的学校缺勤筛查：教育与医学的联系。

背景：缺课与健康有着密切的双向联系：有疾病的儿童缺课率更高，长期缺课与健康状况不佳有关。尽管缺勤率上升，但评估医疗机构上学情况的工具仍未得到充分探索。简单，标准化的出勤检查可能有助于解决这一差距。方法：将学校出勤筛查工具整合到两个诊所的电子病历中。分析了2022年10月699例患者（5-17岁）的筛查完成情况、出勤模式和缺勤原因。每月两次或两次以上缺勤被认为是长期缺勤风险的阳性筛查。结果：出勤筛查的完成率为70% (n = 489)，筛查和未筛查之间没有显著的人口统计学差异。约15% （n = 72）的慢性旷工风险筛查呈阳性。最常见的原因是急性（62.5%）或慢性（11.1%）医疗问题。哮喘在筛查呈阳性的人群中更为普遍（p = 0.023）。启示：基于医疗保健的出勤筛查是可行的，尽管仍有机会增加提供者筛查。鉴于与医疗有关的缺勤率很高，医疗保健提供者在识别和支持处于危险中的青年方面处于独特地位。结论：将筛查纳入常规医疗保健可以实现对缺勤的早期干预，改善健康和教育成果。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of School Health 医学-公共卫生、环境卫生与职业卫生

CiteScore

3.70

自引率

9.10%

发文量

134

审稿时长

6-12 weeks

期刊介绍： Journal of School Health is published 12 times a year on behalf of the American School Health Association. It addresses practice, theory, and research related to the health and well-being of school-aged youth. The journal is a top-tiered resource for professionals who work toward providing students with the programs, services, and environment they need for good health and academic success.