Longitudinal analyses of geographic differences in utilization rates of children with developmental delays who participation in early intervention services.
Early-intervention uptake is climbing across Taiwan, yet some cities still serve far fewer children—check your local numbers to spot and fix gaps.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Lin et al. (2012) tracked how many children with developmental delays used early-intervention services across Taiwan. They pulled six years of national registry data, from 2003 to 2009. The team compared city-by-city numbers to see which areas had the highest and lowest uptake.
What they found
Overall, more kids entered services every year. But the growth was uneven. Some cities enrolled 2.5 times more children than others. The gap stayed wide for the whole six-year window.
How this fits with other research
Lin et al. (2009) looked at the same registry a few years earlier. They showed identification of delays was rising, especially in babies and toddlers. The new study picks up where that one left off and shows the extra kids are actually getting services.
Chu et al. (2017) followed rural toddlers who did get in. Despite low and patchy use, the kids still gained cognitive skills. This softens the bad news: even imperfect uptake helps.
Lai et al. (2011) found boys and rural children show up in the registry more often. The 2012 uptake data now tell us those same groups are not always receiving services at the same rate.
Why it matters
You can map your own region’s enrollment numbers against the Taiwan pattern. If your area looks like the low-uptake cities, plan extra outreach before kids age out. Target medical clinics, since most referrals still come from doctors. A quick check of local utilization data can guide where you place screening events or parent nights this month.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The purposes of the present study were to describe the longitudinal utilization rates of participation in early intervention services of children with developmental delays, and to examine the geographical difference of services in this vulnerable population. We analyzed service utilization of the developmentally delayed children based on data of governmental reported early intervention services from year 2003 to 2009 in Taiwan. Results show that, the utilization rate of early intervention services was 9.18‰ (range=6.96-12.09‰) of children in 0-5 years during the past 7 years. Mean utilization rate in age group of 0-2 years was 8.32‰ (range=5.73-10.93‰), and age group of 3-5 years was 9.92‰ (range=7.78-13.78‰). We found that the utilization rate in all children aged 0-5 years (R(2)=0.93; p<0.001), boy group (R(2)=0.93; p<0.001) and girl group (R(2)=0.92; p=0.001) were significant increased gradually. The higher utilization rate of early intervention services (aged 0-5 years) were more likely to locate in the north cities (Keelung City=14.65‰; Taipei City=13.49‰), east areas--Hualien County (14.03‰), Taitung County (11.76‰) and central or south counties such as, Chiayi City (14.05‰), Tainan City (12.47‰), and Miaoli County (12.38‰). Hsinchu County (5.97‰), Kaohsiung City (6.21‰), Taichung County (6.74‰), Taipei County (6.95‰) have lower utilization rates of early intervention in Taiwan. The study highlights that the health care system should close the gaps in geographic disparities of early intervention services for children with developmental delays, and respond timely to the needs of these vulnerable children and their families.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2012 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2012.05.007