Children with special health care needs (CSHCN) are defined as those who have a chronic physical, developmental, behavioral, or emotional condition, and who also experience consequences due to their condition, such as above-routine use of health and related services or limitations in activities compared to other children.
Additional indicators related to children with special health care needs, including data on demographics, the impact of conditions on children and their families, health insurance coverage, and access to health care and other services, can be found at kidsdata.org/CSHCN. Most data in this topic come from the National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs and the National Survey of Children’s Health, which are available only at the state and national level. The surveys are conducted via phone interviews with parents.
