How often do physicians address other Medical problems while providing prenatal care?

Abstract

PURPOSE It is unknown to what extent physicians address multiple problems while providing prenatal care. The objective of this study was to determine the percentage of prenatal encounters with 1 or more secondary and tertiary nonob- stetric diagnoses and compare rates between family physicians and obstetricians. METHODS Using the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, 1995-2004, I analyzed prenatal visits to family physicians' and obstetricians' offices. The outcome measure was the percentage of prenatal encounters with 1 or more secondary and tertiary nonobstetric diagnoses seen by family physicians and obstetricians. RESULTS There were 6,203 visit records that met study criteria, representing 223 million visits to obstetricians and 21 million visits to family physicians. Of the prenatal encounters with a family physician, 17.6% (95% confidence inter- val [CI], 12.9%-22.4%) included 1 or more secondary and tertiary nonobstetric diagnoses compared with 7.8% (95% CI, 6.1%-9.6%) of prenatal encounters with an obstetrician (P