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Prevalence of high-risk conditions for severe COVID-19 among Medicaid-enrolled children with autism and mental health diagnoses in the United States
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Prevalence of high-risk conditions for severe COVID-19 among Medicaid-enrolled children with autism and mental health diagnoses in the United States

Whitney Schott, Sha Tao and Lindsay Shea
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, p13623613231155265
17 Feb 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613231155265
PMID: 36799305
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
url
https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613231155265View
Published, Version of Record (VoR)Open Access (License Unspecified),  Open

Abstract

COVID-19 medical comorbidity autism spectrum disorders
Children are at risk of short- and long-term morbidity and mortality from COVID-19. We examine whether autistic children and children with mental health conditions have higher odds of underlying health conditions at high risk of severe disease from COVID-19. We use claims data from a national sample of Medicaid-enrolled children for the years 2008–2016. We examine (1) children with claims for autism and (2) a random sample of children covered by Medicaid, without autism claims but with mental health condition. The comparison group is a random sample of children without autism or any mental health condition. There were 888,487 autistic children, 423,397 with mental health conditions (but not autism or intellectual disability), and 932,625 children without autism or mental health condition. We found 29.5% of autistic children and 25.2% of children with mental health conditions had an underlying condition with high risk for severe illness from COVID, compared to 14.1% of children without these diagnoses. Autistic children had higher odds of having any underlying condition (odds ratio = 2.17; 99% confidence interval = 2.14–2.20), as did children with mental health conditions (odds ratio = 1.71; 99% confidence interval = 1.68–1.73), adjusting for basic demographic characteristics. Children with diagnoses of autism and mental health conditions may be at higher risk for severe COVID due to high-risk condition prevalence. Lay abstract Children are at risk of varying severity of illness and even death from COVID-19. We aim to determine whether autistic children or children with mental health conditions have more underlying health conditions that put people at risk of severe illness from COVID-19. We use data from a national sample of Medicaid-enrolled children for the years 2008–2016. These data include children across the 50 states and the District of Columbia. We compare the prevalence of underlying conditions among autistic children and children with mental health condition to that of other children in Medicaid. This study included 888,487 autistic children, 423,397 with any mental health condition (but not autism), and 932,625 children without any of these diagnoses. We found 29.5% of autistic children and 25.2% of children with mental health conditions had an underlying condition with high risk for severe illness from COVID, compared to 14.1% of children without these diagnoses. Autistic children had over twice the odds of having any underlying conditions, when accounting for age, race, sex, and other characteristics. Children with mental health conditions had 70% higher odds of having these underlying conditions. Mitigation measures in schools and other areas could minimize risk of short- and long-term impacts from COVID for autistic and all children.

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#3 Good Health and Well-Being

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Web of Science research areas
Psychology, Developmental
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