Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Preventive Health Care Utilization among Insured Adolescent Males: Do Connections to Providers and Sites Matter?

This study evaluated the race and ethnicity-specific association between having a personal doctor or nurse and/or a usual site for care and preventive care utilization among 15,989 insured male adolescents. The 2021–2022 National Survey of Children's Health was used to conduct bivariate and multivariable binomial regression analyses and obtain crude and adjusted prevalence differences, overall and by race and ethnicity. Seventy-nine percent of male adolescents with a personal doctor or nurse had a preventive care visit, compared with 63.0% with a usual site but no personal doctor or nurse, and 31.9% with neither. Having a personal doctor a nurse was associated with greater preventive care utilization overall and for each racial and ethnic group [aPD:43.49 (95% CI:35.24, 51.73)]. Established relationships with a personal health care provider may facilitate preventive care utilization, which could be particularly important for racial and ethnic minority adolescents given existing disparities in health care utilization and outcomes.