Chronic School Absenteeism Among Children With Selected Developmental Disabilities: National Health Interview Survey, 2014-2016.

In the United States, 14% of all public school students are chronically absent from school, missing 15 or more days per year (1). Chronic school absenteeism has been associated with poor academic performance, poor school engagement, and greater school dropout (2,3). Previous research has also found that children with chronic health conditions are more likely to have suboptimal school achievement, such as an inability to complete high school or obtain a GED, when compared with youth who did not have a chronic health condition (4). Past research has explored associations between school attendance and health conditions; however, studies have been limited in size and were not nationally representative (5,6). Further, many studies focused on chronic physical health conditions and few explored relationships for individual developmental disabilities (DDs) (7). This report examines the association between selected DDs and chronic school absenteeism among children aged 5-17 years using the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS).