Poor adherence to well-child visits may increase the risk of hospitalizations in young children
WEDNESDAY, May 29 (HealthDay News) -- Poor adherence to well-child care (WCC) visits for young children correlates with an elevated risk for ambulatory care-sensitive hospitalizations (ACSHs), according to research published in the May issue of the American Journal of Managed Care.
Jeffrey O. Tom, M.D., of the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in Honolulu, and colleagues conducted a retrospective observational study using claims and administrative data for children, aged 2 months to 3.5 years, who were enrolled at Group Health Cooperative, an integrated health care delivery system, from 1999 to 2006. The association between adherence to WCC visits and risk for a child's first ACSH was examined.
The researchers found that 797 (4 percent) of the 20,065 children enrolled at Group Health Cooperative had an ACSH. Children with lower adherence to WCC visits were at significantly increased risk for ACSH (hazard ratio [HR], 2.0 for 0 to 25 percent adherence; HR, 1.4 for 26 to 50 percent adherence). Nine percent of the 2,196 children with one or more chronic diseases had an ACSH. Children with one or more chronic diseases who had lower adherence to WCC visits also were at significantly increased risk for ACSH (HR, 3.2 for 0 to 25 percent adherence; HR, 1.9 for 26 to 50 percent adherence).
"For young children, poor WCC visit adherence was associated with increased risk for ACSH in this integrated health care delivery system," the authors write.
One author holds shares in the Group Health Permanente Medical Group, which contracts exclusively to provide medical care for members of Group Health Cooperative.
Full Text