DATE: Wednesday, November 19, 1997          TAG: 9711190517

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: STAFF REPORT 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   30 lines

HEALTH NEEDS OF CHILDREN WILL BE SURVEYED

A team of interviewers will visit Virginia households door to door to learn about the immunization status and health needs of children.

The interviewers - employed by the Center for Pediatric Research, a joint program of Eastern Virginia Medical School and Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters - will visit 220 homes in 65 areas.

The work is being funded by a $300,000 grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

Ardythe Morrow, a Norfolk epidemiologist and associate professor of pediatrics, hopes the interviewers will get information on 900 children.

They will use a 20-minute questionnaire developed by experts at the Virginia Department of Health and EVMS.

The survey will look at incidence of asthma, learning disabilities and premature births.

The poll will ask parents what kind of insurance - if any - they have, their educational level and other demographic information.

The work will be modeled after an assessment of immunization rates in Norfolk, conducted by the Consortium for Infant and Child Health in 1993 and 1996.

It is expected the study will be done by the end of the year.

Researchers said they hope the results will help health officials target resources and determine the most vulnerable populations.

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