A preventive child health program: the effect of telephone and home visits by public health nurses.

A randomized trial was conducted to determine if a public health nursing intervention consisting of telephone contacts or home visits affected the receipt of preventive health services by children eligible for the Early Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment program. Each nursing intervention was applied using a protocol, and outcome data for 1654 case subjects were obtained from state-paid provider claims. However, the trial revealed no statistically significant differences between the study groups, nor was ethnicity a significant factor. Methodological and study context issues were identified that may have affected the results, the generalization of which is limited by the strict selection of cases.