[What do adolescents think about their physician: a comparison between pediatricians and physicians for adults]

The objective of this study was to determine who is the primary care provider for adolescents and whether there are differences between pediatricians and general practitioners. To this end, 3,139 high school students from Barcelona, between 14 and 19 years of age, were surveyed between 1992 and 1993. We found that 14.3% were seen by pediatricians and 57% by general practitioners. Of those seen by pediatricians or general practitioners 72.3% and 76.1%, respectively, stated that they could not talk with their physician about any worry that they had. It was statistically more frequent (p < 0.01) that they could not do so with pediatricians because "they were always with an adult" or because "he would tell my parents". While it was significantly more frequent (p < 0.01) that they could not talk to general practitioners because of "lack of confidence" Adolescents attending a general practitioner office had seen their physician significantly more often (p < 0.01). We conclude that 1 in 4 adolescents does not know who is their primary care physician or does not have one. Although they have more confidence in pediatricians, they prefer to be seen alone and confidentially.