Prevalence of high-risk conditions for severe COVID-19 among Medicaid-enrolled children with autism and mental health diagnoses in the United States.

This study looked at whether autistic children and children with mental health conditions are more likely to have health problems that make COVID-19 more dangerous. Researchers found that about 30% of autistic children had these high-risk health conditions, compared to only 14% of other children. This means autistic children may need extra protection from COVID-19 through safety measures at school and in the community.

This large-scale cross-sectional study analyzed Medicaid data from 2008-2016 across all US states to examine COVID-19 high-risk conditions among children with autism and mental health diagnoses. The study included 888,487 autistic children, 423,397 children with mental health conditions (excluding autism), and 932,625 control children. Results showed 29.5% of autistic children and 25.2% of children with mental health conditions had underlying high-risk conditions for severe COVID-19, compared to 14.1% of other children. After adjusting for demographics, autistic children had twice the odds of having high-risk conditions, while children with mental health conditions had 70% higher odds.

The findings highlight the vulnerability of these populations and support targeted mitigation strategies.

Findings support implementing enhanced COVID-19 protective measures for autistic children and those with mental health conditions. Healthcare providers should conduct thorough risk assessments and consider prioritized vaccination and monitoring protocols. Schools and community settings may need targeted mitigation strategies to protect these vulnerable populations from severe COVID-19 outcomes.

Study used historical Medicaid data (2008-2016) which may not reflect current healthcare patterns. The abstract doesn't specify which underlying conditions were included or provide details about study methodology. Sample representativeness may be limited to Medicaid-enrolled populations, potentially excluding privately insured children.

Children are at risk of varying severity of illness and even death from COVID-19. We aim to determine whether autistic children or children with mental health conditions have more underlying health conditions that put people at risk of severe illness from COVID-19. We use data from a national sample of Medicaid-enrolled children for the years 2008-2016. These data include children across the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

We compare the prevalence of underlying conditions among autistic children and children with mental health condition to that of other children in Medicaid. This study included 888,487 autistic children, 423,397 with any mental health condition (but not autism), and 932,625 children without any of these diagnoses. We found 29.5% of autistic children and 25.2% of children with mental health conditions had an underlying condition with high risk for severe illness from COVID, compared to 14.1% of children without these diagnoses. Autistic children had over twice the odds of having any underlying conditions, when accounting for age, race, sex, and other characteristics.

Children with mental health conditions had 70% higher odds of having these underlying conditions. Mitigation measures in schools and other areas could minimize risk of short- and long-term impacts from COVID for autistic and all children.