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Selected Works of David L. Wood
Article
Access to Medical Care for Children and Adolescents in the United States
Pediatrics (1990)
  • David L. Wood, University of California, Los Angeles
  • Rodney A. Hayward, University of California, Los Angeles
  • Christopher R. Corey, UCLA Departments of Pediatrics, Internal Medicine, and Sociology, Los Angeles
  • Howard E. Freeman, UCLA Departments of Pediatrics, Internal Medicine, and Sociology, Los Angeles
  • Martin F. Shapiro, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
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Abstract
To evaluate access to health care for American children and adolescents, a telephone survey of a national random sample of households was conducted in which 2182 children 17 years or younger were studied. Approximately 10% had no medical insurance; 10% had no regular source of care; and 18% identified emergency rooms, community clinics, or hospital outpatient departments as their usual site of medical care. Children who were uninsured, poor, or nonwhite were less likely to have seen a physician in the past year (P less than .001), and uninsured children were less likely to have up-to-date immunizations. Logistic regression analyses revealed that poor, uninsured, or nonwhite children less frequently had a regular source of care; more frequently used emergency rooms, community clinics, and hospital outpatient departments as their regular providers; and more frequently encountered financial barriers to health care. Low-income or nonwhite children had much less access to care compared with children from more affluent or white families, independent of insurance status or health status.
Keywords
  • United States,
  • medical care,
  • access,
  • children,
  • adolescents
Disciplines
Publication Date
November 1, 1990
Citation Information
David L. Wood, Rodney A. Hayward, Christopher R. Corey, Howard E. Freeman, et al.. "Access to Medical Care for Children and Adolescents in the United States" Pediatrics Vol. 86 Iss. 5 (1990) p. 666 - 673 ISSN: 0079-0400
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/david-wood/41/