[Influence of maternal anxiety on the frequency of paediatric primary care visits].
OBJECTIVE
To know the influence of mother's anxiety in the number of office visits made by the children al primary care paediatric setting.


METHODS
Case control study.


METHODS
Primary care. 17th Health Area. Valencian Community. Spain.


METHODS
134 mothers. Overuse was defined as number of visits higher than the average of visits in all children plus one standard deviation in a certain period. 14.89% were over users. 46 mothers (35.12%) from over user children and 85 (64.88%) from non over users.


METHODS
Anxiety scale STAI (Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory) short form. Mother's job and number of mother's children.


RESULTS
Mother's of over user's children score higher in STAI scale. Number of children or mother's job is not associated with STAI scores. In multivariate analysis anxiety is an important factor associated to over user's children.


CONCLUSIONS
Mother's anxiety is associated with over user's children in primary care paediatric setting. This is a modifiable factor to influence in the number of inappropriate office visits.
Tapia Collados
C
C
Centro de Salud de Petrer, Petrer, Alicante, Spain. ctapiac@coma.es
Gil Guillén
V
V
Orozco Beltrán
D
D
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004651:Employment; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006300:Health Services Misuse; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008347:Manifest Anxiety Scale; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D009819:Office Visits / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011320:Primary Health Care; D011446:Prospective Studies