Background: Consequences of chronic diseases in childhood with respect to health, educational achievement and participation in the labour force in young adult age are evaluated.
Material and methods: A total of 14,364 children (2.3%) of the 626,928 born in Norway 1967-76 received basic and /or supplemental benefits for at least one year of the age span 0-16 years. The more common diagnoses included Endocrine diseases (diabetes), disease classified under Mental diagnoses, Neurological diseases and Congenital malformations. All the children were followed up to the age of 27 with respect to mortality and disability pensioning and to the age of 25 with regard to education, participation in the labour force and income, and in addition national service for the men. The study was made possible through the linking of data from several national registers, performed by Statistics Norway. Before the file was released for analyses, all personal identification was removed.
Results: Basic and supplementary benefits in childhood predict adverse outcomes in young adult age: mortality, disability, low education, lack of gainful employment and low pensionable income. The diagnosis registered with the benefit strongly influenced the outcomes. Conscripts who had received benefits were judged to have a mean score for general ability of 4.5 compared to 5.2. Adjusted for score for general ability the proportion of those having received benefits achieving higher education was 84% of that of those that had not received benefits. After adjustment for educational attainment, the percentage gainfully employed was 11-12% less among subjects having received benefits in childhood. This negative association between having received a benefit in childhood and gainful employment in adulthood was restricted to the low educational group.
Interpretation: Persons with health problems in childhood did not achieve the education, employment and income they should have been capable of judged by their general ability and the education they had actually achieved.