Therapy Use for Children With Developmental Conditions: Analysis of Colorado Medicaid Data.
Beth M McManus, Mary Jane Rapport, Zachary Richardson and 1 others
PMID 28654483WHAT IT FOUND
Colorado Medicaid infants and toddlers with more chronic conditions were more likely to receive physical or occupational therapy, at higher doses and spending.
Those with developmental delays used more PT/OT than those with developmental diagnoses.
Key findings
01Children with at least two co-morbid complex chronic conditions were more likely to receive PT/OT than children with none.
02Compared with children with a developmental diagnosis, children with developmental delay were 12-fold more likely to receive any PT/OT.
03Annual Medicaid PT/OT spending was $108 higher for children with developmental delay than for children with a developmental diagnosis, but the difference was no longer statistically significant after accounting for place and procedure type.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study used data from one state, Colorado, and only the years 2006 to 2008. It could not confirm whether children were enrolled in early intervention or whether home PT/OT visits came from early intervention. It had no measure of child function or therapy quality. Only children with continuous Medicaid eligibility were included, so children who lost eligibility were not studied. Condition severity was estimated from co-morbid chronic conditions, not from a direct measure of the child's function.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflict of interest. The paper does not state who funded the work.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these patterns as proof that more therapy improves outcomes. The study did not measure child function or therapy quality. It only counted PT/OT claims, dosage and spending.