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Primary care utilisation rates in pre-school children

U B Fallon1, A W Murphy, E Majawit

  • 1UCD School of Public Health and Population Science, Woodview House, Belfield, Dublin 4. una.fallon@ucd.ie

Irish Medical Journal
|October 25, 2007
PubMed

Insights

Socio-economic status significantly impacts child health. Higher parental income was linked to reduced risks of asthma and hospital admissions in the first five years of life.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Health
  • Social Epidemiology
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Socio-economic indicators are crucial determinants of health outcomes in early childhood.
  • Understanding the relationship between socioeconomic status and healthcare utilization is vital for public health initiatives.
  • The Lifeways cross-generational cohort study investigates child health during the first five years of life.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine child health and healthcare patterns in relation to socio-economic indicators.
  • To determine the association between socioeconomic factors and the incidence of asthma and hospital admissions.
  • To analyze healthcare utilization, specifically general practitioner (GP) consultation rates, based on socioeconomic status.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal cohort study design involving data collection from general practitioner (GP) records.
  • Data obtained from 640 children within the Lifeways cohort, with a mean follow-up of 3.0 years.
  • Analysis of GP consultation rates, asthma diagnoses, and hospital admissions, stratified by medical card status and parental income.

Main Results:

  • Children with a medical card had significantly higher GP consultation rates (6.6 visits/year) compared to those without (5.1 visits/year).
  • Asthma diagnosis was more prevalent in children with a medical card (19.10%) versus those without (8.9%).
  • Increased parental income was significantly associated with a decreased risk of asthma (p=0.02) and hospital admission (p=0.008).

Conclusions:

  • Socio-economic status is a significant predictor of child health outcomes, including asthma and hospitalizations.
  • Children from lower socio-economic backgrounds, indicated by medical card status, utilized primary care services more frequently.
  • Policy interventions aimed at improving socio-economic conditions may positively impact child health and reduce healthcare burdens.

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