Children with medical complexity (CMC) living in areas of greater socioeconomic deprivation have an increased risk for missing patient-centered medical home (PCMH) visits, according to a study published online March 7 in Pediatrics.

Joanna Thomson, M.D., M.P.H., from the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional study involving 512 children aged younger than 18 years receiving care in a PCMH for CMC in 2016 to 2017. The association between area-level socioeconomic deprivation and health care utilization outcomes was examined.

The researchers found that the CMC lived in neighborhoods with varying degrees of socioeconomic deprivation (median, 0.32; full range, 0.12 to 0.82). No association was seen between area-level deprivation and emergency department visits, hospitalizations, or inpatient bed-days. However, for every 0.1 unit increase in the Deprivation Index, there was a 13% relative increase in the missed clinic visit rate.

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