To know the status of childhood disabilities among middle-aged and old people in China and its influence, and to provide basis for prevention and rehabilitation of childhood disability.

The data were from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. The middle-aged and old people who participated in the baseline survey in 2011 and the newly visited middle-aged and old people who were included in the follow-up in 2013, 2015 and 2018 were selected as the research objects. The disability rate during their childhood was described, and the difference of education level, marriage, daily living ability between disability during childhood and adult were analysed.

Among the middle-aged and old people in China, the childhood disability rate was 20.36‰, and the rates of physical disability, intellectual disability, visual disability, hearing disability and speech disability were 8.47‰, 4.36‰, 3.57‰, 5.58‰, and 2.01‰, respectively. The number of childhood disabilities accounted for 12.2% of the total number of disabled people in the middle-aged and elderly. Among the people with disabilities in the childhood period, the proportion of males was higher than females, accounting for 54.1%. Most of the disabled people in the childhood period are from 0 to 6 years old, accounting for 58.2% of the disabled people from 0 to 17 years old. Compared with those with disabilities during childhood, those with disabilities in adulthood, with physical, intellectual, hearing, and speech disabilities had a higher proportion of impaired ADL in middle and old age. Those with visual, hearing, and speech disabilities in adulthood had a higher proportion of depressive symptoms in middle and old age. The differences were statistically significant by χ² test(P<0.05).

About 2% of the middle-aged and elderly people in China suffer from disability during their childhood. The impact of childhood disability runs through the whole life cycle. It is of great significance to take active prevention and rehabilitation measures for the childhood disabilities.