Adolescent health care in family practice

This paper describes the 12,414 health care problems of 3,657 adolescent patients visiting 12 Colorado family practices (4 rural, 3 urban, and 5 residency practices) over a one-year period. All 12 practices utilize the Family Medicine Information System, a selectively automated system for storing and analyzing medical, family, and billing data. Age-sex distribution, visiting patterns, and morbidity are described for patients between 13 and 20 years of age. The 25 most frequent adolescent diagnoses account for 74 percent of visits, and 134 diagnoses account for 95 percent of pediatric visits. Significant sex differences and differences among early, middle, and late adolescent age groups are described. All diagnostic categories are explored in detail, and comparisons are made between urban, rural, and residency practices.