Many Children Don't Receive Proper Medical Care

Researchers have found that America's kids are receiving appropriate medical care less than 50 percent of the time when visiting health professionals. These findings impact not only families seeking proper medical care for their own children but staff at schools and child care settings who each year battle contagious diseases and childhood illnesses that are spread amongst kids in their care.

In a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine and considered the largest of its kind, the findings indicate that kids fare worse than adults seeking medical care in areas of preventative, acute conditions and chronic conditions. The study was conducted by the RAND Corp., the Seattle Children's Hospital Research Institute and the University of Washington School of Medicine.

The 2007 findings indicate that kids receive appropriate medical care 46 percent of the time when visiting health professionals, compared with a 2006 RAND study that found adults get appropriate medical care about 55 percent of the time. The survey followed healthcare experiences of 1,536 children from 12 metropolitan areas over four years. The results were tabulated through interviews of the children's parents and by reviewing the children's medical records and comparing treatments to established care standards. Researchers also compared quality of treatments against 175 standards of care.

Results included findings that only 19 percent of seriously ill infants with fevers had correct lab tests conducted; that 38 percent of tots were screened for anemia in their first two years of life; that 31 percent of pre-schoolers had weight checked during annual check-ups; and that 44 percent of youngsters with asthma were on recommended medications. Additional findings included:

• Proper preventative care was provided in only 41 percent of checkups.



• Children get the right care for acute illnesses (i.e. fevers) 68 percent of the time.



• Appropriate care for chronic conditions (i.e. asthma or ADHD) was obtained 53 percent of the time.

Another interesting note to the survey was that most subjects in the study were white, middle class, and whose families have medical insurance. The surprise here is that this is the category of children assumed to be receiving quality medical care. Reasons for the results could be attributed to insurance companies having increased pressure on physicians for how much time spent on patients and also to avoid performing tests that may be considered "unnecessary." Doctors are also trained to focus on caring for sick kids and, as a result, may focus less on preventative care that can help prevent sickness in the first place.