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Perceived health status and use of healthcare services among children and adolescents
- Source :
- European Journal of Public Health. 16:405-414
- Publication Year :
- 2006
- Publisher :
- Oxford University Press (OUP), 2006.
-
Abstract
- Background: The aim of the present study was to analyse the use of healthcare services according to health status in a population of children and adolescents, taking into account family socio-demographic characteristics and characteristics of the proxy respondent. Methods: A total of 836 interviews of proxy respondents for children aged 5–14 years from the Barcelona Health Interview Survey carried out in 2000 were included. Dependent variables were visits to a healthcare professional, visits to the emergency room, and hospitalization. Independent variables were: report of medical conditions, health status of the child measured by the Child Health and Illness Profile-Child Edition, Parent Report Form (CHIP-CE/PRF), the educational level of the head of household, social class, child's healthcare coverage, and proxy-related variables [mental health status by means of the General Health Questionnaire-12 items version (GHQ-12), and other]. Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate prevalence ratio (PR) to compare the use of healthcare services among different categories of independent variables. Results: Children having worse health status were more likely to have visited a healthcare professional [PR = 1.68; 95% confidence interval (95% CI) = 1.09–3.83], whereas children with a reported medical condition were more likely to have made a visit to the emergency service (PR = 1.47; 95% CI = 1.27–2.55) and were hospitalized more frequently (PR = 2.50; 95% CI = 1.12–5.57). Higher likelihood of visits to the emergency room was associated with children having both public and private coverage and a proxy respondent scoring 3 or higher on the GHQ-12. Conclusions: Use of healthcare services differed by health needs but not by social class. Double healthcare coverage and mental distress of the proxy respondent influenced the use of emergency services.
- Subjects :
- Male
medicine.medical_specialty
Adolescent
Urban Population
Cross-sectional study
Health Status
Child Health Services
Population
Social class
Head of Household
Mental distress
Nursing
Surveys and Questionnaires
Health care
Humans
Medicine
Child
education
education.field_of_study
business.industry
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Mental health
Cross-Sectional Studies
Logistic Models
Adolescent Health Services
Spain
Child, Preschool
Family medicine
Female
General Health Questionnaire
business
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 1464360X and 11011262
- Volume :
- 16
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- European Journal of Public Health
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....228f9b29c852072c7dc9971d9d28953f