Data are from the 2018 (MCHDS), a cross-sectional telephone survey of parents or other caregivers in households with children aged 0-71 months (N = 1,016 children). The purpose of the MCHDS is to provide baseline data on the prevalence of developmental screening, surveillance, and promotion in Mississippi. The 2018 MCHDS is one component of a larger project funded through a grant to the University of Mississippi Medical Center and Mississippi State University from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration.
The 2018 MCHDS was modeled, in part, on the 2016 National Survey of Child Health (NSCH) and provides representative information about children ages 0-71 months old in Mississippi. Respondents in the 2018 MCHDS were drawn from a dual-frame (cell phone and landline) random digit dial sample of Mississippi residents. As part of the screening process, adult respondents were asked to list names and ages for all usual residents within a sampled household. Adult respondents in households with more than one age-eligible child were instructed to provide information about a single age-eligible child selected at random - referred to in this report as the ‘focal child.’ Parents (n = 774, 76.2%), other family members (n = 232, 22.8%), or other knowledgeable adult proxy respondents (n = 10, 0.9%) provided information about developmental health, developmental screening receipt, health care utilization, and selected mental and physical health conditions for a focal child between the ages 0-71 months old. The survey also includes information about key behavioral, psychosocial, and socioeconomic risk factors that have been associated with adverse developmental health outcomes among young children in prior research.
The Survey Research Laboratory (SRL) at the MSU Social Science Research Center (SSRC) conducted interviews between April and August 2018. Respondents who completed the survey were given a $10 gift card to a national retailer to incentivize participation. The survey was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at both Mississippi State University and The University of Mississippi Medical Center. Additional information about the survey design and implementation is available upon request.