title: Health problems and service use by parents of normal infants in the first 6 months of life.
abstract: A retrospective descriptive study was carried out on residents of the northern Sydney health area who delivered normal, full term, singleton infants at three large maternity units. A sample population of 1199 was sent a postal questionnaire when their infants reached the age of 6 months, and a 65% response rate was obtained. Problems encountered, with ratings of severity and difficulty of management, were reported in five categories: acute and persistent or recurrent illness, daytime and night-time behaviour problems and feeding problems. Forty-seven per cent of parents reported at least one problem which they rated severe or very difficult to manage, and 19.7% reported two or more, particularly in the areas of behaviour and feeding difficulties. Traditional services such as those provided by general practitioners and specialists were not often helpful for these problems, while baby health services and specialized support services were more helpful. However, a significant number of respondents found no service helpful, representing an area of unmet need.
authors.affiliation: Child and Family Health Unit, Hornsby-Kuringai Area Health Service, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: K P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Hort
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D009017:Morbidity; D009517:New South Wales / Q000453:epidemiology; D010290:Parents; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires