Socioeconomic Status and Hospitalization Costs for Children with Brain and Spinal Cord Injury.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-1-2016

Identifier

DOI: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2015.10.043

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To determine if household income is associated with hospitalization costs for severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) and spinal cord injury (SCI).

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study of inpatient, nonrehabilitation hospitalizations at 43 freestanding children's hospitals for patientsmethods, adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, primary payer, presence of chronic medical condition, mechanism of injury, injury severity, distance from residence to hospital, and trauma center level. Main exposure was zip code level median annual household income.

RESULTS: There were 1061 patients that met inclusion criteria, 833 with TBI only, 227 with SCI only, and 1 with TBI and SCI. Compared with those with the lowest-income zip codes, patients from the highest-income zip codes were more likely to be older, white (76.7% vs 50.4%), have private insurance (68.9% vs 27.9%), and live closer to the hospital (median distance 26.7 miles vs 81.2 miles). In adjusted models, there was no significant association between zip code level household income and hospitalization costs.

CONCLUSIONS: Children hospitalized with unintentional, severe TBI and SCI showed no difference in standardized hospital costs relative to a patient's home zip code level median annual household income. The association between household income and hospitalization costs may vary by primary diagnosis.

Journal Title

The Journal of pediatrics

Volume

169

First Page

250

Last Page

255

MeSH Keywords

Adolescent; Brain Injuries; Child; Child, Preschool; Cohort Studies; Female; Hospital Costs; Hospitalization; Hospitals, Pediatric; Humans; Income; Infant; Male; Retrospective Studies; Social Class; Spinal Cord Injuries

Keywords

Spinal Cord Injury; SCI; Brain Injury

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