Relationship between socioeconomic status and general practitioner visits for children in the first 12 months of life: an Australian study.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and child general practitioner (GP) visits in the first 12 months of life.

Methods: A longitudinal analysis of 1202 mother and child dyads was conducted as part of the Environments for Healthy Living study from south-east Queensland, Australia, for participants enrolled between 2006 and 2009. Maternally reported survey data (sociodemographic and child health information) were linked with individual Medical Benefits Scheme data from birth to 12 months, identifying GP service use.

Results: On average, children visited the GP 10.2 times in the first 12 months of life. An inverse relationship was found for SES and child GP visits, with maternal education and child gender the strongest predictors of the total number of GP visits. Almost 70% of participants had all GP consultations bulk billed and only 3.5% paid more than A$100 in total.

Conclusions: Children from lower SES families may have a greater need for health services due to higher rates of illness and injury. Bulk billing and low-cost access to GP services, regardless of length of consultation, improve equity of access; however, indirect costs may prevent low-income mothers from accessing care for their child when needed.