The association between mother's and children's use of physician services.

Using data from the National Health Interview Survey on approximately 30,000 children, maternal and child ambulatory care utilization patterns are compared. The results indicate that maternal physician utilization is closely associated with child utilization, as measured by presence or absence of a physician visit over the course of a year as well as annual volume of use. Maternal use appears to be a more powerful predictor of child use than several other family and maternal variables. These results confirm and expand on those of previous localized population-based studies and suggest that interventions directed at the mother may be effective in ensuring equitable and efficient use of ambulatory services by children.