Adolescent primary care visit patterns.

Area of Science:

• Adolescent Health
• Preventive Medicine
• Healthcare Utilization

Background:

• Clinical preventive care services are recommended for adolescents.
• Limited data exists on the frequency of preventive care visits for adolescents to receive these services.

Purpose of the Study:

• To measure the frequency of preventive versus nonpreventive care visits for adolescents insured by private or government programs.
• To assess if adolescents receive a sufficient number of preventive care visits over time.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective descriptive analysis of claims data from a large Minnesota health plan (approx. 700,000 members).
• Study population included adolescents aged 11–18 years between January 1, 1998, and December 31, 2007.
• Outcome measure: rates of preventive and nonpreventive care visits.

Main Results:

• One-third of adolescents with continuous enrollment (4+ years) had no preventive care visits between ages 13–17; 40% had only one.
• Nonpreventive care visits were more frequent, averaging 1 visit/year at age 11, increasing to 1.5 visits/year at age 17.
• Insurance type (government vs. commercial) showed minimal differences in visit rates; older adolescent girls had more preventive and nonpreventive visits than boys.

Conclusions:

• Adolescents attend preventive care visits infrequently, while nonpreventive visits are more common.
• Recommend adopting the 'no-missed-opportunities' paradigm for adolescent preventive care, similar to adult care.
• All adolescent visits should be leveraged for preventive care delivery, even in brief clinical encounters.