Characteristics of Hospitalized Children With a Diagnosis of Malnutrition: United States, 2010.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-2016
Identifier
DOI: 10.1177/0148607116633800
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Malnutrition is common in hospitalized patients in the United States. In 2010, 80,710 of 6,280,710 hospitalized children(CDM). This report summarizes nationally representative, person-level characteristics of hospitalized children with a CDM.
METHODS: Data are from the 2010 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, which contains patient-level data on hospital inpatient stays. When weighted appropriately, estimates from the project represent all U.S. hospitalizations. The data set contains up to 25 ICD-9-CM diagnostic codes for each patient. Children with a CDM listed during hospitalization were identified.
RESULTS: In 2010, 1.3% of hospitalized patientsCDM, malnutrition's true prevalence may be underrepresented. Length of stay among children with a CDM was almost 2.5 times longer than those without a CDM. Hospital costs for children with a CDM were >3 times higher than those without a CDM. Hospitalized children with a CDM were less likely to have routine discharge and almost 3.5 times more likely to require postdischarge home care. Children with a CDM were more likely to have multiple comorbidities.
CONCLUSIONS: Hospitalized children with a CDM are associated with more comorbidities, longer hospital stay, and higher healthcare costs than those without this diagnosis. These undernourished children may utilize more healthcare resources in the hospital and community. Clinicians and policymakers should factor this into healthcare resource utilization planning. Recognizing and accurately coding malnutrition in hospitalized children may reveal the true prevalence of malnutrition.
Journal Title
JPEN. Journal of parenteral and enteral nutrition
Volume
40
Issue
5
First Page
623
Last Page
635
MeSH Keywords
Adolescent; Child; Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; Child, Hospitalized; Child, Preschool; Comorbidity; Health Care Costs; Hospitalization; Humans; Infant; Length of Stay; Malnutrition; Patient Discharge; United States
Keywords
healthcare cost; hospitalized children; malnutrition prevalence; nutrition assessment; outcomes
Recommended Citation
Abdelhadi RA, Bouma S, Bairdain S, et al. Characteristics of Hospitalized Children With a Diagnosis of Malnutrition: United States, 2010. JPEN J Parenter Enteral Nutr. 2016;40(5):623-635. doi:10.1177/0148607116633800
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