Experience of Primary Care Services Among Early Adolescents in England and Association With Health Outcomes.
PURPOSE
The aim of this study was to investigate adolescents' (11-15 years) experience of their general practitioner (GP), whether poor reported GP experience was associated with worse physical and mental health measures and whether poor previous GP experience was linked to lower utilization of these services.


METHODS
We used logistic regression to analyze data from the 2014 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study. Four aspects of recent care experience were studied: feeling at ease, feeling treated with respect, satisfaction with doctor's explanation, and feeling able to discuss personal matters. Five dichotomized measures of health status were used: ever self-harmed; fair or poor self-reported health; frequent (at least weekly) low mood; sleeping problems; or headaches.


RESULTS
Of 5,335 students, 4,149 reported having visiting their GP within the past year. Of these, 91.8% felt treated with respect, 78.7% felt at ease, 85.7% were satisfied with explanation, and 53.9% felt able to discuss personal matters. After adjusting for ethnicity, age, gender, and family affluence score, poor experience on any indicator was strongly associated with increased risk of self-harm (adjusted odds ratio range, 2.01-2.70; all p < .001); feeling low (AOR range, 1.53-2.11; all p < .001); and sleeping problems (AOR range, 1.49-1.91; all p ≤ .001). Poor experience on all indicators, except discussing personal matters, was associated with worse self-reported health.


CONCLUSIONS
Nearly half of this large, national study of adolescents did not feel able to discuss personal matters with their doctor. There was a consistent, strong association between reported lack of good GP experience and poor health measures.
['Yassaee|Arrash A|AA|', 'Hargreaves|Dougal S|DS|', 'Chester|Kayleigh|K|', 'Lamb|Stephanie|S|', 'Hagell|Ann|A|', 'Brooks|Fiona M|FM|']
D000293:Adolescent D000294:Adolescent Behavior D017677:Age Distribution D001294:Attitude to Health D002648:Child D004739:England D005260:Female D015438:Health Behavior D006304:Health Status D006306:Health Surveys D054625:Healthcare Disparities D006801:Humans D016015:Logistic Models D008297:Male D010817:Physician-Patient Relations D011320:Primary Health Care D017678:Sex Distribution D013222:State Medicine D014944:World Health Organization
Primary care Adolescent GP Health measures Student Patient experience