Background: Pediatricians are physicians trained to provide comprehensive nonsurgical health care for children, but parents may consult other specialists when seeking medical help for their children. This study was designed to analyze the role of pediatricians and the changes in the patterns of ambulatory visits among different specialties for children under the age of 18 years in Taiwan during the past 13 years.
Methods: Data on ambulatory visits of children aged 0-17 years from 1999 to 2011 were retrieved from the National Health Insurance Research Database. The physician's specialty, level of the hospital, year of visit, age of the patient, and diagnoses of each ambulatory visit were analyzed. Four of the most commonly visited specialties-pediatrics, otolaryngology, family medicine, and internal medicine-were compared. The yearly trend of ambulatory visits to different specialties, difference in various age groups, influence of hospital levels, and the top 10 diagnoses were analyzed.
Results: A total of 1,618,033 ambulatory visits were identified and enrolled into our study. A comparison of the proportions of ambulatory visits between 1999-2003 and 2007-2011 showed that the proportions of visits increased from 27.1 ± 1.3% to 35.4 ± 1.0% for pediatricians, decreased from 32.8 ± 1.8% to 17.0 ± 0.8% for family physicians, and did not change for otolaryngologists and internal medicine physicians. Specifically, pediatricians were visited more often if the children were younger, or if the health-care facility (level of hospital) was either a medical center or a regional hospital. Upper respiratory tract infection was the top diagnosis, followed by acute bronchitis, and acute and chronic tonsillitis.
Conclusions: The role of pediatricians in children's ambulatory care increased in importance from 1999 to 2011 in Taiwan. However, approximately two thirds of children sought ambulatory medical help from nonpediatric physicians. Thus, it is important to educate and encourage parents to visit pediatricians if their children require medical help.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pedneo.2014.10.004 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Disparities in the Prevalence of Urinary Diseases Among Prisoners in Taiwan: Population-Based Cross-Sectional Study.
JMIR Public Health Surveill
December 2024
Evidence-Based Medicine Center, Taizhou Hospital of Zhejiang Province Affiliated to Wenzhou Medical University, 150 Ximen Street, Gucheng Street, Linhai, Zhejiang, 317000, China, 86 13666801279.
Background: Prisoner health is a major global concern, with prisoners often facing limited access to health care and enduring chronic diseases, infectious diseases, and poor mental health due to unsafe prison environments, unhygienic living conditions, and inadequate medical resources. In Taiwan, prison health is increasingly an issue, particularly concerning urinary diseases such as urinary tract infections. Limited access to health care and unsanitary conditions exacerbate these problems.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOutpatient follow-up and future care-seeking for pediatric ambulatory care-sensitive conditions.
Acad Pediatr
December 2024
Division of Emergency Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
Objectives: Outpatient follow-up visits are often recommended for children with ambulatory care-sensitive conditions (ACSCs) who are discharged from emergency departments or urgent care centers (acute care settings). We sought to assess whether attending a follow-up visit within 7 days is associated with seeking initial office-based care rather than acute care during a subsequent ACSC illness. Understanding this association is crucial to guide recommendations for routine short-term follow-up visits in children who seek acute care for these common conditions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCaring for Patients Seeking Asylum: Early Data From the Safety Net System in New York City.
J Public Health Manag Pract
December 2024
Office of Ambulatory Care and Population Health, New York City Health + Hospitals, New York, New York (Newton-Dame, Jacobson and Silverman); Office of Ambulatory Care and Population Health, New York City Health + Hospitals, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York (Drs Wallach and Long); and Department of Pediatrics, New York City Health + Hospitals/Bellevue, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York (Dr Dreyer).
Context: Over 200 000 people seeking asylum have arrived in New York City from 2022 to 2024.
Program: As the safety net hospital system for our city, New York City (NYC) Health + Hospitals (H + H) has taken the lead in caring for newly arrived asylum seekers. We used electronic medical record data to gain early insights into utilization and needs among these patients.
Ambulatory care utilization in the first 24 months' postpartum by rurality and pregnancy-related conditions: A prospective cohort study from Maine.
J Rural Health
January 2025
Muskie School of Public Service, University of Southern Maine, Portland, Maine, USA.
Purpose: To estimate the rate of ambulatory care use among postpartum persons by rurality of residence and pregnancy-related conditions.
Methods: We used Maine Health Data Organization's All Payer Claims Data for persons who delivered between 2007 and 2019 (N = 121,905). We estimated rates of ambulatory care (nonemergency department outpatient health care) utilization during the first 24 months' postpartum by level of rurality (urban, large rural, small rural, and isolated rural) and by pregnancy-related conditions (prenatal depression, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, and gestational diabetes).
Prognostic role of TAPSE to PASP ratio in outpatients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction.
ESC Heart Fail
December 2024
Department of Medical and Surgical Specialties, Radiological Science and Public Health, Institute of Cardiology, ASST Spedali Civili, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy.
Aims: Few data are available regarding the role of tricuspid annulus plane systolic excursion to pulmonary artery systolic pressure (TAPSE/PASP), a measurement of right ventricular to pulmonary artery coupling, in patients with chronic heart failure and left ventricular systolic dysfunction.
Methods And Results: This retrospective single-centre study included outpatients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction (ejection fraction ≤ 50%) evaluated between January 2022 and December 2022. TAPSE/PASP was evaluated as a continuous variable and as tertiles according to its value on the first visit.
Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!