TABLE 2.
Descriptive Analysis of Family, Caregiver, and Child Characteristics and Statistical Comparison of the 2 Subgroups: National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth, Canada, 1994–1995
| Total Sample (N = 9401), % or Mean (SE) | Healthy Children (n = 3633), % or Mean (SE) | Children With Health Problemsa (n = 2495), % or Mean (SE) | Healthy Children Versus Children With Health Problems |
||
| Characteristics | Comparison Test | P | |||
| Family characteristics | |||||
| Family type | |||||
| Single parent | 17.99 | 16.31 | 22.52 | χ21 = 12.63 | <.001 |
| Two parents | 82.01 | 83.69 | 77.48 | ||
| Household income, Can $ | $51 784 ($686) | $51 353 ($965) | $49 835 ($1 113) | t = 1.05 | .29 |
| No. children in household | 2.22 (0.02) | 2.18 (0.03) | 2.19 (0.03) | t = 0.33 | .74 |
| Income adequacy categoryb | |||||
| Lowest or lower middle | 17.53 | 17.25 | 19.27 | χ23 = 1.77 | .62 |
| Middle | 30.59 | 31.29 | 29.74 | ||
| Upper middle | 36.17 | 35.98 | 35.88 | ||
| Highest | 15.72 | 15.47 | 15.11 | ||
| Caregiver characteristics | |||||
| Women | 89.97 | 89.30 | 90.87 | χ21 = 1.60 | .21 |
| Relationship to child | |||||
| Biological mother | 87.97 | 87.13 | 88.25 | χ22 = 3.04 | .22 |
| Biological father | 9.49 | 10.35 | 8.56 | ||
| Other | 2.54 | 2.52 | 3.19 | ||
| Age, y | 35.80 (0.09) | 36.12 (0.16) | 35.44 (0.18) | t = 2.68 | .007 |
| Educational attainment of the person most knowledgeable about the child | |||||
| Less than secondary school | 16.48 | 15.95 | 17.89 | χ23 = 5.75 | .13 |
| Secondary school graduate | 18.57 | 19.59 | 16.87 | ||
| Beyond high school | 28.59 | 28.02 | 30.65 | ||
| College or university degree (including trade) | 36.36 | 36.45 | 34.59 | ||
| Current smoking status | |||||
| Nonsmoker | 67.83 | 70.84 | 63.35 | χ22 = 20.10 | <.001 |
| Occasional | 4.56 | 4.63 | 4.12 | ||
| Daily | 27.61 | 24.53 | 32.53 | ||
| Child characteristics | |||||
| Age, y | 7.50 (0.02) | 7.43 (0.05) | 7.72 (0.07) | t = 2.98 | .003 |
| Boy | 52.27 | 48.12 | 60.05 | χ21 = 33.62 | <.001 |
| Has a chronic health condition | 37.38 | 0 | 89.99 | ||
| Has an activity limitation | 6.56 | 0 | 23.59 | ||
| Has functional problems | 10.77 | 0 | 29.45 | ||
| Has elevated use of health services | 43.00 | 0 | 93.94 | ||
a
Our definition of children with health problems only included those who had been classified by 2 or more indicators of health problems; children who met only 1 indicator (n = 3273) were excluded from the analyses.
b
Estimate of the total household income before taxes and deductions. See Table 1 for categorical definitions.