Primary care utilisation rates in pre-school children

A key objective of the Lifeways cross generation cohort study is to examine health and healthcare, according to socio-economic indicators, during the first five years of life. GP contact details were available for 1032 children. 772 GPs in 589 practices were approached and data were obtained on 640...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Irish medical journal 2007-09, Vol.100 (8), p.suppl 23-suppl 27
Main Authors: Fallon, U B, Murphy, A W, Majawit, E, O'Riordan, C, Bury, G, O'Mahony, D, Kelleher, C C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Asthma - epidemiology
Child Health Services - utilization
Child, Preschool
Family Characteristics
Female
Health Services Accessibility - statistics & numerical data
Health Status Indicators
Hospitalization - statistics & numerical data
Humans
Ireland - epidemiology
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Physicians, Family
Pregnancy
Primary Health Care - utilization
Referral and Consultation
Socioeconomic Factors
Time Factors
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Summary:A key objective of the Lifeways cross generation cohort study is to examine health and healthcare, according to socio-economic indicators, during the first five years of life. GP contact details were available for 1032 children. 772 GPs in 589 practices were approached and data were obtained on 640 children (59% of original cohort). The mean follow-up time was 3.0 years (95% CI 2.5-3.5). 20.5% of children had a medical card. The mean GP consultation rate was 5.5 visits per child per year, 6.6 visits for children with a medical card and 5.1 for those without (95% CI 1.1 to 1.9) p = 0.001. 68 had a diagnosis of asthma; 19.10% with a medical card and 8.9% without (95% CI 3.0-17.5) p = 0.0001. 138 children had ever been admitted to hospital; 26.2% with a medical card and 21.0% without (95% CI -3.3% to 13.6%) p = 0.2. Incremental increases in parental income significantly decreased both the risk of asthma (p = 0.02) or hospital admission (p = 0.008).
ISSN:0332-3102