title: Morbidity during the preschool years.
abstract: The prevalence of illness was studied in a birth cohort of Christchurch children during the period from birth to 5 years. By 5 years children had made an average of 18.0 family doctor consultations for morbidity and a further 4.7 for preventive health care procedures; 38% had been admitted to hospital on at least one occasion and 62% had made one or more attendances at a hospital outpatient department. The majority of general practitioner consultations involved four major groups of conditions: respiratory illness; integumental lesions; gastrointestinal illness and accidents. Hospital admissions were dominated by six groups of conditions: respiratory illness, minor surgery, accidents, feeding and management problems, admissions relating to the child's home environment and gastrointestinal illness. Two thirds of hospital outpatient attendances were accounted for by five groups of conditions: accidents; musculoskeletal conditions; respiratory illness; vision problems and congenital heart murmur.
mesh_terms: D000059:Accidents; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009520:New Zealand; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*