Community‐based participation of children with and without disabilities

Abstract

AIM To describe and compare the socio-demographic characteristics and community-based participation of children with and without disabilities.

METHOD This cross-sectional study reports data on 1,073 children with disabilities (663 boys; 410 girls) and 11,122 children without disabilities (5617 boys; 5505 girls) aged 10-12 years from the fifth sweep of the Millennium Cohort Study. Chi-squared (χ2) was used to explore differences between the two groups. Logistic regression models were used to assess the relationships between childhood disability (dependent variable) and socio-demographic characteristics. Logistic regression models were also used to examine the associations between childhood disability (dependent variable) and participation in community-based activities.

RESULTS. Children with disabilities were more likely to be boys, have psychosocial and behavioural problems, live in single-parent households and have a parent with a longstanding illness. Patterns of community-based participation were similar between children with and without disabilities. However, the extent to which the two groups participated differed. Children with disabilities participated with lower frequency in unstructured physical activities (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR] 2.41; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.95, 2.99), organized physical activities (AOR 2.29; 95% CI 1.83, 2.86), religious gatherings (AOR 2.08; 95% CI 1.35, 3.20) and getting together with friends (AOR 3.31; 95% CI 2.61, 4.20).

INTERPRETATION Socio-demographic characteristics differed between children with and without disabilities. Children with disabilities had greater restriction in participation compared to peers without disabilities. Participation promoting interventions are required to support the participation of children with disabilities in social and physical activities.