HEALTH SERVICE RESEARCH POSTER PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS
Please note: All posters will be displayed in
Salons 10-12.
FRIDAY, 5:45-6:30 PM
Weber W, Taylor J, McCarty R, Johnson-Grass A.
Frequency of pediatric and adolescent visits in naturopathic
medical practice.
Bastyr University wendyw@bastyr.edu
OBJECTIVE: Previous surveys of naturopathic
physicians (NDs) indicate 12-20% of visits to NDs are pediatric patients.
However, little is known about why pediatric patients are seen by NDs
and what forms of treatment are given.
DESIGN: A mailed survey of Washington State
ND practitioners was conducted to better characterize pediatric naturopathic
care.
METHODS: Demographic information and practice
descriptions were collected from all returned surveys. For those NDs
seeing more than five pediatric patients for week (pedNDs), data were
collected on the types of conditions seen and treatments provided. Data
for pedNDs and non-pedNDs were compared by t-test and Chi square tests
with p<0.05 considered significant.
RESULTS: Two hundred fifty-one NDs returned
the survey, a response rate of 50.3%. 204 of the NDs reported practicing
currently, and only 31 (15%) saw greater than 5 pediatric patients per
week. PedNDs were more likely to be licensed midwives (19.4% versus
0.6%; p<0.001), more likely to market to pediatric patients (22.6% vs
8.1%, p=0.015), and saw significantly more patients per week (41.6 vs
20.2, p<0.001). Eighteen pedNDs returned data on 354 pediatric visits.
30.5% of the pediatric patients were under the age of 2, 28% between
2 and 5 years of age, 22.6% between 6 and 11 years of age, and 18.9%
between 12 and 18 years of age. Of children under 2 years of age, 11.7%
percent received immunizations from their naturopathic physician. The
most common chief complaints of pediatric patients included: general
visit/well child examination 27.4%, infectious disease 20.6%, and mental
health conditions 12.7%.
CONCLUSIONS: While Washington State may not
yield a representative sample of national ND practice, this study presents
the largest survey of NDs on their care of pediatric patients. In general,
NDs see few pediatric patients; however, there is a small group of NDs
who treat children more frequently.
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