Difficulties in Functioning Among Children in the United States: 2021-2023.

Abstract

Objectives: This report presents national estimates of difficulties in functioning for children ages 2-17.

Methods: 2021-2023 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data were used to assess difficulties in functioning among children. NHIS has included the Child Functioning Module, developed jointly by UNICEF and the Washington Group on Disability Statistics, since 2019. The module's questions ask about difficulties in the following functional domains: seeing, hearing, walking, communication, behavior, and learning (for all children ages 2-17); fine motor and playing (for children ages 2-4); and self-care, remembering, concentrating, coping with change, relationships, and affect (anxiety and depression) (for children ages 5-17). Prevalence estimates were calculated for different levels of difficulty (a lot of difficulty, some difficulty, or no difficulty) and are presented for overall functioning, by individual functional domain, and by number of functional domains where difficulties were reported. Differences in functioning by age, sex, race and Hispanic origin, urbanization level, and family income are also presented.

Results: In 2021-2023, about one-quarter (24.9%) of children ages 2-4 experienced difficulties in functioning (4.1% experienced a lot of difficulty in one or more domains and 20.8% experienced some difficulty). Among children ages 5-17, just over one-half (50.8%) experienced functioning difficulties (13.0% experienced a lot of difficulty and 37.8% experienced some difficulty). The prevalence of functioning difficulties varied by sex, with boys being more likely than girls to experience a lot of difficulty in at least one domain, but differences across other characteristics varied. Functioning difficulties were most prevalent in the domains of communication, learning, behavior, and playing among children ages 2-4. For those ages 5-17, the most prevalent domains were anxiety, accepting change, behavior, depression, and making friends. Among children who experienced functioning difficulties, most had difficulty in only one functional domain.