PEDIATRICS Vol. 68 No. 4 October 1981, pp. 593
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Stretching a Minute

Maurice Ross MD1

1 Pediatrics-Adolescent Medicine, Saco, Maine

article by Reisinger and Bires entitled "Anticipatory Guidance in Pediatric Practice"1 and Hoekelman's commmentary, "Got a Minute,"2 in the December 1980 issue of Pediatrics offer a challenge to the practi perician.

The real issue may be whether or not time at a specific visit is an appropriate parameter for measuring anticipatory guidance. Does every patient require anticipatory guidance at every visit? Perhaps one should consider well-child visits as rituals that afford pediatricians an opportunity to assess the need for anticipatory guidance and offer it when indicated.

There are numerous methods of rapidly assessing patients' needs. These include measurements of height, weight, and head circumference plotted on growth charts; health questionnaires that include review of systems, emotional problems, and school performance; and developmental lag check lists such as the Denver Prescreening Developmental Questionnaires.