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Infection-related hospitalizations decline among US children
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Recent findings published in The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal showed that the rate of hospitalizations for infectious diseases significantly declined among U.S. children during a 13-year period.
“This decline was largely driven by the decrease in hospitalizations for lower respiratory infections and enteric infections,” Tadahiro Goto, MD, of the department of emergency medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, and colleagues wrote. “Indeed, these two ID subgroups accounted for 73% of the overall decrease in the number of ID hospitalizations from 2000 to 2012.”
In 2003, about 300,000 infants were hospitalized with infectious diseases, costing $690 million in direct costs and representing 43% of all pediatric hospitalizations, the researchers wrote. As a result, the federal government identified the reduction of ID-related hospitalizations as a new objective for its Healthy People 2020 initiative.
To investigate the national rate change of all ID hospitalizations, the researchers performed a cross-sectional analysis every 3 years from 2000 to 2012 of a weighted 3.6 million pediatric ID hospitalizations using the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project’s Kids’ Inpatient Database.
The researchers found that the overall ID-related hospitalization rate decreased from 91 per 10,000 children in 2000 to 75.8 per 10,000 in 2012 (P < .001). Of all subgroups in 2012, lower respiratory tract infections were the most common reason for hospitalization (42.8%). Most subgroups declined during the period, except for skin infections, which grew by 67.6% (P < .001).
Compared with 2000, in-hospital mortality risk significantly declined in 2012 (adjusted OR = 0.63; 95% CI, 0.51-0.79), but the median length of stay remained stable at 2 days. In addition, the median cost increased from $3,452 in 2003 to $3,784 in 2012 (P = .007). Overall, hospitalizations cost $4.4 billion in 2012.
There were 625,000 pediatric ID hospitalizations in 2012, which contributed to about 25% of all pediatric hospitalizations, the researchers wrote.
“These findings should facilitate continued efforts, such as bridging the gaps in immunizations coverage, to reduce the ID-related morbidity and health care utilization nationally,” Goto and colleagues wrote. “It will require collective efforts of a variety of stakeholders, such as the federal agencies, local public health departments, professional organizations, and clinicians.” – by Will Offit
Disclosure: Infectious Diseases in Children was unable to confirm relevant financial disclosures at the time of publication.
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