Infections in families with small children: use of social insurance and healthcare.
OBJECTIVE: To examine infectious symptoms on a daily basis in families with small children and how often these infections cause people to stay at home or seek healthcare. DESIGN: A population-based prospective study. SETTING: Child health clinics in seven municipalities in Sweden. SUBJECTS AND MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: All family members of 835 families who came with an 18-month-old child to a child health clinic were asked to register all infectious symptoms in a diary for a month. They were also asked to indicate whether they had stayed at home from day-care or school, whether social insurance had been used, and whether they had contacted healthcare facilities or seen a physician. RESULTS: In total, 7% of the 18-month-old children and 34% of the parents had no symptoms during the winter month. The most common symptom was a runny nose. The 18-month-old children had 1.6 symptom episodes with an average duration of 5.6 days. Of the symptom episodes 13% led to contact with healthcare facilities and 6% to an antibiotic prescription. Of the symptom days 27% required staying at home and in 10% social insurance was claimed. CONCLUSION: Symptoms of infection among families with small children were common, with a runny nose being the most common. Physician consultations and antibiotic prescriptions were used in a small proportion of the symptom episodes. Social insurance was claimed in about one-third of the days with absence from day-care.