Determinants of children's primary health care use

We review factors that influence children's use of primary health care serv ices. Predictors of pediatric health care use include child health status, child mental health, parent and family functioning, demographic characteris tics, and access to health care services. Health services research is marke d by inconsistencies due to varying approaches to measurement, population s ampling, and analysis, and models that do not incorporate situational facto rs. We present recommendations for practicing clinicians and discuss sugges tions for future research to help identify additional factors that may infl uence a parent's decision to seek help from pediatric physicians. Health ca re use is determined by multiple factors, and complex models will lead to i mproved strategies for maximizing health status and establishing optimal pe diatric care.