Healthcare costs associated with language difficulties up to 9 years of age: Australian population-based study (original) (raw)

International journal of speech-language pathology, 2015

Abstract

Purpose. This study aimed to quantify the non-hospital healthcare costs associated with language difficulties within two nationally representative samples of children. Method. Data were from three biennial waves (2004-2008) of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (B cohort: 0-5 years; K cohort: 4-9 years). Language difficulties were defined as scores ≤ 1.25 SD below the mean on measures of parent-reported communication (0-3 years) and directly assessed vocabulary (4-9 years). Participant data were linked to administrative data on non-hospital healthcare attendances and prescription medications from the universal Australian Medicare subsidized healthcare scheme. Result. It was found that healthcare costs over each 2-year age band were higher for children with than without language difficulties at 0-1, 2-3, and 4-5 years, notably 36% higher (mean difference = AU206,95AU206, 95% CI = AU206,9590, $321) at 4-5 years (B cohort). The slightly higher 2-year healthcare costs for children with lan...

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