Maternal employment, maternal care and pediatric visits for minor acute illnesses.
The purpose of these analyses, based on a prospective follow-up of 532 children, was to describe reported use of three maternal care actions for minor illness episodes, and to determine if maternal employment, as well as other sociodemographic factors, were associated with maternal care behaviors prior to each child's first pediatric acute-care visit. Two factors were associated with greater use of maternal care prior to an illness episode: the mother not working outside the home and less satisfaction with medical care. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that employed women with child-care arrangements are more likely than are other women to seek medical care for symptoms that are minor and can be managed with family-initiated care.
Horwitz
S M
SM
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510-8034.
Horwitz
R I
RI
Morgenstern
H
H
D000208:Acute Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003237:Connecticut / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D016015:Logistic Models; D009035:Mothers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014931:Women, Working / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*