Published online October 1, 2004
PEDIATRICS Vol. 114 No. 4 October 2004, pp. 962-964 (doi:10.1542/peds.2003-0650-F)
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Which Characteristics of Children With a Febrile Seizure Are Associated With Subsequent Physician Visits?

Kevin E. Gordon, MD*,{ddagger}, Joseph M. Dooley, MB*,{ddagger}, Ellen Wood, MD*,{ddagger}, Paula Brna, MD* and Peggy Bethune, MD*,§

* Department of Pediatrics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
{ddagger} Department of Pediatrics, IWK Health Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
§ Department of Pediatrics, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada

Objective. To reanalyze an existing data set to determine which children with an initial febrile seizure have excessive subsequent physician visits.

Methods. Individual data from a regional cohort of 75 children with a first febrile seizure and 150 febrile and 150 afebrile control subjects were linked to a comprehensive physician services database. The impact of study variables on subsequent physician utilization over the following 6 years was modeled using analysis of variance.

Results. Children with a known family history of febrile seizures at the time of study entry had 24% fewer physician visits. Control children with a known family history of afebrile seizures had 7% fewer visits than those with negative family histories. Children with an initial febrile seizure had 45% more physician visits when they knew of a relative with afebrile seizures than those with negative family histories.

Conclusions. Knowing the family history of seizures is probably a marker of reduced physician utilization. At the time of an initial febrile seizure, knowing the family history of afebrile seizures defines a group of patients with excessive subsequent physician visits.

Key Words: febrile seizures • seizures • family history • physician utilization

Accepted Mar 16, 2004.