Learning Objectives for this Presentation:
By the end of the presentation, participants will be able to describe the prevalence of health insurance and a medical home and the frequency of health care visits of U.S. adolescents.

Background:
New vaccines have been recommended for adolescents aged 11-17 years. Health care visits are opportunities to vaccinate.

Objectives:
To describe the health care utilization of U.S. adolescents.

Methods:
We analyzed 43,335 adolescents aged 11-17 years from the 2003-2004 National Survey of Children's Health, a state-based random-digit-dial telephone survey. Questions about health insurance status, having a personal doctor or nurse (medical home), and any health care visits in the past 12 months were asked.

Results:
U.S. adolescents were 63% non-Hispanic White, 15% non-Hispanic Black, 15% Hispanic, and 7% multi-race or other races. Fewer Hispanic and Black adolescents had a health care visit in the past 12 months compared to White adolescents (70% and 80% vs. 86%, p<0.05). Compared to Black and White adolescents, fewer Hispanic adolescents had health insurance (90% and 93% vs. 74%, p<0.05) and a medical home (74% and 88% vs. 64%, p<0.05). Percentages of adolescents who had a health care visit in the past 12 months were higher among White, Black and Hispanic adolescents if they had health insurance compared to those without insurance (87%, 81%, 79% with insurance vs. 71%, 68%, 47% without, p<0.05) or if they had a medical home compared to those without a medical home (88%, 85%, 81% with a medical home vs. 71%, 67%, 52% without, p<0.05).

Conclusions:
When adolescents have health insurance and a medical home, racial and ethnic disparities for having a health care visit are reduced. Further research is needed to better understand how these factors are inter-related and to determine if certain strategies can improve the frequency of health care visits for this group.