Continuity reexamined: differential impact on satisfaction with medical care for disabled and normal children.

The satisfaction with medical care of families with disabled children and of randomly selected families is compared to test the hypothesis that the impact of continuity of physician on parental satisfaction is greater when disabled children are patients than is the case among the general population of children. A multiple regression approach for the study of interaction was used. The results provide general confirmation for the hypothesis that the weights of continuity in producing change in all three patient satisfaction areas studied were greater in the sample of families with disabled children than in the random sample of families. Controlling for maternal education, family income, race and waiting time did not alter these results. It is suggested that a continuous doctor-patient relationship, conducive to the expression and resolution of psychological needs, is of special importance when a patient's illness is severe. Implications for the organization of medical care in specialty clinics, which serve the disabled and chronically ill, are discussed.