Background: Women have different patterns of provider use across the lifespan, but few studies have investigated women's evaluations of their primary care providers at different ages.
Objective: We sought to investigate the relationship between patterns of regular provider use and women's satisfaction with primary care across the lifespan.
Research Design: A sample of 1197 women ages 18 to 87 making primary health care visits was surveyed. Satisfaction with primary care in the past year was measured with a subscale the Care Coordination and Comprehensiveness subscale of the Primary Care Satisfaction Survey for Women (PCSSW). Bivariate comparisons and age stratified multivariate ordinal logistic regression models were estimated.
Results: Women in their early reproductive years (ages 18 to 34) are more satisfied with care coordination and comprehensiveness when their regular provider is a reproductive health specialist, primarily obstetrician gynecologist (ob/gyn) physicians. The odds of higher satisfaction are reduced with a generalist regular provider (OR = 0.38, P < 0.01), a generalist regular provider plus an ob/gyn (OR = 0.47, P < 0.05), or no regular provider (OR = 0.52, P < 0.05). The pattern of regular provider use is not significantly associated with satisfaction for women in other age categories.
Conclusions: Most adult women see generalists for their primary health care, either alone or in combination with ob/gyns. Among younger women satisfaction is higher when an ob/gyn is the regular provider. Further research must consider women's perspectives on their provider use patterns and the appropriate role of ob/gyns in women's primary care across the lifespan.