INTRODUCTION: Asthma, the leading chronic disease in children, is a major public health issue with 6.2 million children below 18 years currently diagnosed with asthma in the United States. This study sought to examine the national estimates and predictors of the burden of childhood asthma-hospitalizations in children below 18 years.
METHODS: Data from the 2012 Kids’ Inpatient Database was used for analysis. Principal asthma diagnoses were identified using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification code 493. xx. The burden was assessed in terms of number of asthma-related hospitalizations, total numbers of days spent in the hospital and total costs. Multivariate regression analysis was conducted to examine the predictors of childhood asthma hospitalizations.
RESULTS: There were an estimated 82,634 asthma-related hospitalizations among children below 18 years in the United States in 2012, accounting for about 1 billion US dollars in hospital charges and more than 150,000 hospital days. Government payers (Medicare and Medicaid) were billed for about 60% of asthma-related hospitalizations in children. The rate of asthma hospitalizations was lowest in the Midwest (19.23%) and males accounted for more than half (62.57%) of asthma cases in children in the United States. The mean of hospital charges per discharge was 12,900 US dollars and the mean length of stay was 1.96 days. Older age (ages 12-17), Government insurance status, being female, living in the Western region and longer length of stay predicted higher total charges for childhood asthma-related hospitalizations. Factors associated with longer length of stay included older age (ages 12-17), private insurance status, being female and living in the Southern region of the country.
CONCLUSION: The study findings suggest that childhood asthma remains a healthcare burden therefore, there is need for improvements in medications and outpatient treatments of asthma to reduce childhood asthma-hospitalizations in the United States.
Keywords: children, asthma, hospitalizations, burden
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ETSU/oai:dc.etsu.edu:asrf-1116 |
| Date | 04 April 2018 |
| Creators | James, Titilayo, Ouedraogo, Youssoufou, Johnson, Kiana R. |
| Publisher | Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University |
| Source Sets | East Tennessee State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Appalachian Student Research Forum |
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