Chronic physical disorders

The term ‘chronic physical disorder’ includes incurable diseases which are to a certain extent controllable, e.g. diabetes and diseases which come in fits, such as migraine and, for example, severe backache, which may eventually disappear. Chronic disorders are diagnosed on the basis of a list. The child is asked whether it suffers from one or more of the diseases occurring on the list. If the answer is affirmative, the result is included in the prevalence figure. A child who suffered from a disease occurring on the list, but has recovered does not count. Cancer patients are always counted – even if the patient has been declared free from cancer for more than a year.