Health complaints and drug consumption during the first 18 months of life.

Abstract

Medical events of the first 18 months of life were studied in a group of 129 infants. Their medical files held at the child welfare clinic and at the surgery of the district physician as well as at the ear, nose and throat and paediatric departments were scrutinized. The parents were interviewed when their infants had reached an age of 18 months. The 129 infants were brought to the district nurse or doctor on a total of 2804 occasions. The majority of these visits were routine health checks. During the period in question, 57% needed medical attention for upper respiratory tract infection and 29% for acute otitis media. Most of the infants had been given the non-prescription remedies paracetamol and nose drops. Altogether 64% had received some form of antibiotic. A positive correlation was found between the number of visits as a patient made by the mother during her pregnancy and the number of visits on behalf of her baby during its first 18 months.