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Does having a regular primary care clinician improve quality of preventive care for young children?

Moira Inkelas1, Paul W Newacheck, Lynn M Olson

  • 1Department of Health Services, UCLA School of Public Health, Center for Healthier Children, Families, and Communities, Los Angeles, California 90024, USA. minkelas@ucla.edu

Medical Care
|April 5, 2008
PubMed

Insights

Having a regular primary care clinician for young children is linked to modest improvements in interpersonal quality of care. This association was primarily observed in specific demographic subgroups, with no significant impact on anticipatory guidance content.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric healthcare quality
  • Child health services research
  • Primary care delivery

Background:

  • Establishing a consistent relationship with a primary care clinician is a cornerstone of pediatric preventive care.
  • Understanding the impact of a regular clinician on the quality of care experienced by young children is crucial for optimizing health outcomes.
  • Existing research highlights the importance of interpersonal dynamics in healthcare interactions, particularly for vulnerable populations.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between having a regular clinician for preventive care and the quality of care received by young children.
  • To assess whether a consistent provider relationship influences interpersonal quality ratings and the content of anticipatory guidance.
  • To explore potential disparities in these associations among different racial and ethnic groups.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized data from the National Survey of Early Childhood Health (NSECH), a nationally representative survey of US parents.
  • Conducted bivariate and multivariate analyses to examine the relationship between having a regular clinician and measures of care quality.
  • Analyzed data from 2068 young children, focusing on interpersonal quality, anticipatory guidance content, and access to care.

Main Results:

  • Parents reported slightly higher interpersonal quality (69 vs. 65) and marginally greater anticipatory guidance content (82 vs. 80) for children with a regular clinician in bivariate analyses.
  • Multivariate analyses, controlling for confounding factors, indicated that a regular clinician was associated with higher interpersonal quality but not with the content of anticipatory guidance.
  • The association between a regular clinician and interpersonal quality was significant among African American and Hispanic children in bivariate analyses.

Conclusions:

  • For young children, having a regular primary care clinician is associated with modest improvements in interpersonal quality of care.
  • No significant differences in the content of anticipatory guidance were found based on the presence of a regular clinician.
  • The benefits of a regular clinician may be more pronounced in enhancing interpersonal quality, particularly for specific subgroups of young children.
Abstract

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