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Report on the working activity of an Italian family pediatrician: a three-year analysis 2004-2006
1Catania University, Italy. gebotta@tin.it
Insights
Italian family pediatricians (FP) focus on preventive care and routine health checks for children. Their work also addresses acute illnesses, with a growing emphasis on managing chronic childhood diseases.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Public Health
- Healthcare Systems
Background:
- Italian family pediatricians (FP) provide essential child healthcare globally.
- The impact of FP care on childhood disease morbidity requires further evaluation.
- Understanding the daily activities of FPs is crucial for assessing the Italian child health system.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the daily activities and patient demographics of an Italian family pediatrician.
- To evaluate the workload and types of care provided by FPs.
- To highlight the role of FPs in managing both acute and chronic childhood diseases.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of daily activities of an FP from 2004-2006.
- Data collection on patient visits, routine health checks, and diagnoses.
- Statistical analysis of visit frequency and patient demographics, including children with chronic diseases.
Main Results:
- Average daily visits totaled 20 (4.5 routine checks, 15.5 other visits).
- Respiratory tract diseases constituted over 60% of all diagnoses.
- Children aged 0-2 received 70% of routine health checks; 3-6 year olds received 38% of total visits.
Conclusions:
- FP activities are heavily weighted towards prevention and routine care.
- There is a significant need to focus on the management of chronic childhood diseases.
- FP care is vital for both acute illness management and long-term child health.
Aim:
Italian family pediatrician (FP) represents a unique example of global medical assistance for children throughout the world. Their role, however, is not fully known because appropriate feedback has not developed to evaluate the impact of FP's care on childhood disease morbidity.
Methods:
This study contains a report of the daily activity of a FP, during the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 to create a picture of the current situation in the Italian medical health system that deals with children. Results have demonstrated that the mean number of yearly visits is 3 293±351, the mean routine health-checks is 952±60 and the mean number of yearly access is 4 245±391. The mean number of daily visits is 4.5±0.3 for routine health-checks and 15.5±1.5 for the visits, making a total of 20 daily visits. Children suffering from chronic diseases, included in the FP list, is on average of 60 yearly, representing 1.8% of the total children. These children received an average of 6.6±1.0 yearly visits statistically significant (P=0.08) in respect to the yearly visits carried out. While children aged 0-2 years received 70% of total routine health-checks, children aged between 3 and 6 years received 38% of total visits.
Results:
Respiratory tract diseases appeared as the more frequent disease, representing over 60% of total diagnosis.
Conclusion:
FP's work is mainly dedicated to prevention with the important support of routine health-checks while the rest of his work concerns acute illnesses. Nowadays it is becoming more important to assist children suffering from chronic diseases because they represent the future of child assistance.
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