Abstract

CAROLI, Paula L  and  NAVIA, Marcelo J. Presencia del padre en la consulta pediátrica. Arch. argent. pediatr. [online]. 2006, vol.104, n.4, pp.325-327. ISSN 0325-0075.

Introduction. Historically, only mothers used to accompany their children to pediatrician consultation. Objective. This study intended to determine how frequently the father was present in the pediatric consultation. Population, material and methods. This is a descriptive crossover study performed at the Hospital Escuela de la Universidad Abierta Interamericana of Buenos Aires. All the consultations performed on Saturdays from April to July, 2004 were analyzed. The following data were recorded: age and sex of the children, the person who carried them to the office, type of consultation, social security, frequency of fathers presence, and wherever the mother was assent, the reasons for such absence. It was analyzed whether the fathers presence was related their children age, sex or type of consultation. Results. 209 visits were analyzed. 109 females, 100 males, aged between 1 month to 15 years old (median 2 years). 185 were urgencies (88.5%) and 24 were scheduled (healthy child visits) (11.5%). Only the mother was present in 113 consultations (54%), both parents were present in 75 (36%), and only the father was present in 16 (8%). From the 91 fathers present, 57 (63%) regularly attended with their children, while the remaining 34 (37%) attended occasionally. 6/16 fathers who attended alone (37.5%) said that the mother was absent because she was caring of other children; 6 (37%) the mother was working; 2 (12.5%) the mother was ill, and she was pregnant in the other 2 cases (12.5%). The fathers presence in the pediatric consultation was not related with the age or sex of their children, but it was more common in emergency consultations (OR 3.3, CI 95% 1.1-10.5). Conclusions. The fathers presence in certain pediatric settings may be relatively frequent, especially in unscheduled visits.

Keywords : Consultation; People attending; Pediatric primary care.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )