Juozas Raistenskis, Zdislav Skvarciany, Romualdas Gurevičius
Abstract
Declining birth rates, increasing number of diseasesand injuries among children, socio-economicalchange in the situation of the country, as well as othersocial, health – and economics-related factorsare the main reasons for greater interest of scientistsin research on the social and health disparities inthe counties (municipalities and districts). This paperanalyzes the inequalities in first-time recognizedchildren’s disability in counties of Lithuania duringthe period of 2007-2011.Aim of the study. To analyze incidences of the firsttimerecognized children’s disability in Lithuaniafrom 2007 to 2011 and to compare the parametersof the first-time recognized children’s disability incidencein 10 counties, taking into account variabilityof disability incidence inside the counties.Methods. The study used the data on the initial determinationof disability in children, taken fromDisability and Working Capacity Assessment Officeunder the Ministry of Social Security and Laborfrom 2007-2011. For the usage of further statisticalindex, the information on the number of citizenswas taken from the database of Department of Statisticsof the Republic of Lithuania. The indicatorswere age-standardized using the direct standardizationmethod and the statistical program “WinPepi”.For the variation analysis of country’s regionaldisparities the One-way ANOVA test was applied.Results. During the analyzed period (2007-2011)in Lithuania some form of disability was found in10649 children under the age of 18, of whom 6,219- boys (58,0 percent) and 4,430 – girls (42,0 percent).The largest newly-recognized children’s disabilityaverages in 2007-2011 were found in the regionof Šiauliai (43,68 ± 1,70), Panevėžys county(41,55 ± 1,96) and Utena county (41,53 ± 6,27). Inboys’ group – Šiauliai county (51,64 ± 1,53), Telšiaicounty (47,72 ± 10,61), Utena county (46,69 ± 7,83)and Panevėžys county (45,61 ± 2,59). In girls’ group- Panevėžys (37,14 ± 2,31 ), Šiauliai (35,33 ± 2,47),and Utena (36,16 ± 5,11) c o unties. In both girls’and boys’ groups statistically significant differences(p<0.05) in newly recognized children’s disabilityincidence in the country’s counties were found.Conclusions. The conducted variation analysis ofchildren’s disability at t h e age of 0-17 y.o. in theperiod of 2007-2011 throughout the country’s counties,revealed inequalities among the counties. Thebiggest differences in newly determined disabilityin children in comparison with other counties of thecountry were found among Šiauliai, Utena, and Panevėžyscounties.
Keyword(s): incidence, disability, children, inequalities, counties, 2007-2011
DOI: 10.5200/sm-hs.2015.005
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