TY - JOUR
AU - A. Luther
AU - D. Fearon
AU - D. Browne
AU - I. Colman
AU - J. A. Dubin
AU - L. Duncan
AU - S. T. Leatherdale
AU - M. A. Ferro
A1 - 
AB - PURPOSE: Physical illness describes long-term physical health conditions such as asthma, diabetes, and epilepsy. Mental or neurodevelopmental disorder (MND) that co-occurs with physical illness in childhood is associated with poorer outcomes for children and their families. There is a need for contemporary estimates of physical-MND burden to inform resource allocation and reduce occurrence. This descriptive study estimated the prevalence of morbidity status and compared prevalence of MNDs among children with or without physical illness. METHODS: Data come from the 2019 Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth, a representative cross-sectional study conducted by Statistics Canada. Physical illnesses and MNDs were reported by the person most knowledgeable about the child. RESULTS: The sample included children aged 5 to 17 years (n = 33,715). In total, 49.5% of children had at least one physical illness and 17.9% had at least one MND. Physical-MND multimorbidity was reported for 9.8% of children. Among children with any physical illness, MNDs were present in 19.9%. Among children with no physical illness, the prevalence of MNDs was 14.1%. Differences in prevalence of MNDs across types of physical illnesses were small in magnitude (h=-0.02 to 0.35). CONCLUSION: Findings show that childhood physical-MND multimorbidity is common, highlighting the need for screening of MNDs among Canadian children with physical illness. Integrated care models are necessary to comprehensively address the physical and MND health needs of children. These estimates of morbidity snapshot the time immediately prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and have critical utility as baselines for future post-COVID-19 studies.
AD - School of Public Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.; Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing, Western University, London, ON, Canada.; Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.; School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.; Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.; School of Public Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada. mark.ferro@uwaterloo.ca.
AN - 41555082
BT - Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol
C5 - Healthcare Disparities
DA - Jan 19
DO - 10.1007/s00127-025-03044-6
DP - NLM
ET - 20260119
JF - Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol
LA - eng
N2 - PURPOSE: Physical illness describes long-term physical health conditions such as asthma, diabetes, and epilepsy. Mental or neurodevelopmental disorder (MND) that co-occurs with physical illness in childhood is associated with poorer outcomes for children and their families. There is a need for contemporary estimates of physical-MND burden to inform resource allocation and reduce occurrence. This descriptive study estimated the prevalence of morbidity status and compared prevalence of MNDs among children with or without physical illness. METHODS: Data come from the 2019 Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth, a representative cross-sectional study conducted by Statistics Canada. Physical illnesses and MNDs were reported by the person most knowledgeable about the child. RESULTS: The sample included children aged 5 to 17 years (n = 33,715). In total, 49.5% of children had at least one physical illness and 17.9% had at least one MND. Physical-MND multimorbidity was reported for 9.8% of children. Among children with any physical illness, MNDs were present in 19.9%. Among children with no physical illness, the prevalence of MNDs was 14.1%. Differences in prevalence of MNDs across types of physical illnesses were small in magnitude (h=-0.02 to 0.35). CONCLUSION: Findings show that childhood physical-MND multimorbidity is common, highlighting the need for screening of MNDs among Canadian children with physical illness. Integrated care models are necessary to comprehensively address the physical and MND health needs of children. These estimates of morbidity snapshot the time immediately prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and have critical utility as baselines for future post-COVID-19 studies.
PY - 2026
SN - 0933-7954
ST - Physical illnesses, mental or neurodevelopmental disorders, and multimorbidity in children: results from the Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth
T1 - Physical illnesses, mental or neurodevelopmental disorders, and multimorbidity in children: results from the Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth
T2 - Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol
TI - Physical illnesses, mental or neurodevelopmental disorders, and multimorbidity in children: results from the Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth
U1 - Healthcare Disparities
U3 - 10.1007/s00127-025-03044-6
VO - 0933-7954
Y1 - 2026
ER -