Primary care clinic size and patient satisfaction in a military setting

Health perspectives regarding adolescents in military service

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Our purpose is to illuminate health perspectives of adolescents in military service, who comprise the main bulk of military personnel.

RECENT FINDINGS

Two views are emphasized: the soldier as a developing adolescent and the healthcare of adolescent soldiers. The capacity for abstract thinking and future planning, characteristic of late adolescence, opposes the military challenges of obedience, disengagement from the family, and potential threats for physical injury and mental stress, in addition to the requirement for responsibility beyond the individual's personal needs. On the other hand, at discharge from military service, the mature young adult faces questions of a 17-year-old adolescent. Health perspectives regarding adolescents in military service include physical and mental health screening before draft; recruiting adolescents with chronic illnesses; specific healthcare issues during service, including routine medical care, psychosocial problems of young people in service and approach to suicide and to risk behaviors; health aspects of adolescent women in military frameworks; and the dual commitment of physicians as military officers.

SUMMARY

Professionals who care for the well-being of young people in their late teens and early 20s in military service need to consider the service period as an additional developmental stage within late adolescence that requires attention as part of the comprehensive healthcare.

Race and satisfaction in general OB/GYN clinics

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that racial differences in satisfaction can be found among OB/GYN patients on a US naval base. METHODS: Cross-sectional surveys assessing satisfaction with services were obtained from 838 patients who were seen in one of the two general OB/GYN clinics (455 in the base hospital clinic and 391 in a satellite clinic). Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to identify subgroups of patients who were not very satisfied with care received. RESULTS: When the patients seen in the base hospital were analyzed separately, Asian respondents had significantly lower odds of being very satisfied relative to non-Hispanic white respondents (AOR = .33, p < .01). CONCLUSION: Asian patients may be less satisfied than others when treated at a larger facility. Patients treated at a satellite clinic tended to be more satisfied than patients seen at the base hospital.