Parental beliefs and children's receipt of preventive care: another piece of the puzzle?
OBJECTIVE
To examine whether parental beliefs about routine checkups are associated with children's receipt of timely preventive care.


METHODS
The 2001 United Way Outcomes and Community Impact Program telephone survey of San Diego County, including 918 households with children between 3 and 19 years of age, where the respondent was the parent.


METHODS
Cross-sectional analyses examined the relationship between parental beliefs and children's receipt of routine checkups in the past year, using the expanded behavioral model of health services utilization.


RESULTS
Approximately 81 percent of children received routine visits as recommended during the prior year. Parents' beliefs about the timing of routine checkups were strongly associated with their children's receipt of recommended routine care, after controlling for important covariates (odds ratio=2.85, 95 percent confidence interval=1.7-4.8). Other significant factors included the parent's educational level, whether the child had a regular source of care, and whether the child was sick in the past year.


CONCLUSIONS
Multiple factors, including parental beliefs, influence whether children receive recommended routine care. Understanding the role of these factors may help explain why even insured children do not receive preventive health care as recommended, and can be used to target children most likely to lack regular preventive care.
Hughes
Suzanne C
SC
Center for Behavioral Epidemiology and Community Health, Graduate School of Public Health, San Diego State University, 9245 Sky Park Court, Suite 230, San Diego, CA 92123-4388, USA.
Wingard
Deborah L
DL
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002140:California; D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D011314:Preventive Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013689:Telephone