The Bright Futures guidelines for health
supervision of infants, children, and
adolescents recommend that children
visit a physician for preventive health
care six times during the first year,
three times in the second year, and
annually thereafter.1 Preventive visits
provide the opportunity to monitor
a child’s growth and development,
assess behavior, provide immunizations,
discuss important issues
regarding prevention of injury and
violence, review appropriate nutrition,
and answer any parental questions.
Overall, almost 78 percent of children
received a preventive care visit in
the past year. Receipt of a preventive
visit is noticeably less likely in rural
areas: 73.2 percent of children in
small rural areas and 74.3 percent in
large rural areas received a preventive
visit in the past year, compared to
78.8 percent of children in urban areas.
Children of all ages in rural areas
are less likely to receive a preventive
health care visit over the course of
a year than children in urban areas;
in most cases, rates are the lowest in
small rural areas, in particular. For
instance, among children from birth
to age 5, 89.1 percent in urban areas
received a preventive health visit
in the past year, compared to 85.8
percent in small rural areas. Among
children aged 6-11 years, those rates
are 73.6 and 64.9 percent, respectively.
The oldest children, aged 12-17 years,
also experience the highest rates of
preventive care receipt in urban areas
(73.7 percent), while the rates in
large rural and small rural areas are
approximately the same (70.3 and
70.4 percent, respectively).
In each location, Hispanic children
are the least likely to receive an
annual preventive care visit. Among
urban children, 71.8 percent of
Hispanic children received a visit,
compared to 80.8 percent of White
children and 81.4 percent of Black
children. Similarly, among children
in small rural areas, fewer than
two-thirds (66.4 percent) of Hispanic
children had a preventive visit in the
past year, compared to 73.6 percent
of White children and 76.3 percent
of Black children.
1 Green M, Palfrey JS, eds. 2002 Bright Futures:
guidelines for health supervision of infants, children,
and adolescents (2nd rev. ed). Arlington, VA: National
Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health.
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