Issues and problems in measuring children's health status in community health research.

The measurement of children's health status in community surveys is hampered by both methodologic and substantive problems. These include relatively low prevalence of medical conditions among children, appropriate selection of sample questionnaire items, and difficulties in measuring health status change. There is potential value in including measures of health risk instead of, or in addition to, health status measures. This may overcome problems of low prevalence, and provide a broader base for testing the effects of program and policy changes.