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Urologic diseases in North America Project: trends in resource utilization for urinary tract infections in children
1Pediatric Urology Services, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, USA. Andrew.Freedman@cshs.org
Insights
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) in children lead to over 1.1 million physician visits annually and significant healthcare costs. Further research is needed to fully understand the economic impact of pediatric UTIs.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health
- Healthcare Economics
- Infectious Diseases
Background:
- Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are common in children.
- Understanding the health utilization and economic burden of pediatric UTIs is crucial for public health.
- Previous studies have not fully captured the societal costs associated with pediatric UTIs.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the health utilization and economic burden of urinary tract infections (UTIs) in children.
- To analyze healthcare resource utilization for pediatric UTIs across various demographics and over the past decade.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of multiple public and commercial healthcare databases.
- Inclusion of inpatient hospitalizations, outpatient physician visits, and emergency department visits for children with coded UTIs.
- Assessment of utilization trends by age, gender, race, insurance, and geographic location over the last decade.
Main Results:
- Pediatric UTIs account for over 1.1 million physician visits annually (0.7% of all doctor visits).
- Inpatient hospitalizations for UTIs, particularly pyelonephritis, remain significant, costing over $180 million annually.
- Infants had higher rates of inpatient care, while adolescents incurred higher hospital costs.
Conclusions:
- Pediatric UTIs represent a substantial health and economic burden on society.
- Current data collection is insufficient to fully account for all associated costs, including outpatient expenses and ancillary treatments.
- Further research and comprehensive data collection on healthcare utilization for pediatric UTIs are warranted.
Purpose:
We evaluated the health utilization and economic burden on society of urinary tract infections (UTIs) in children using a variety of public and commercial health care databases.
Materials And Methods:
Numerous available databases were evaluated for health care utilization, including inpatient hospitalization, and outpatient physician and emergency department visits, by children with a coded diagnosis of urinary tract infection. Utilization was analyzed by age, gender, race, insurance type and geographic location, and trends were assessed during the last decade.
Results:
UTIs resulted in more than 1.1 million physician visits annually, accounting for 0.7% of doctor visits and occurring in 2.4% to 2.8% of children. Overall, inpatient hospitalization decreased slightly, although pyelonephritis still accounted for more than 13,000 admissions. Infants were more likely to receive inpatient care for UTIs than children or adolescents, although hospital costs were higher in adolescents. Inpatient hospital costs are estimated to be greater than 180 million dollars per year.
Conclusions:
Pediatric UTIs constitute a significant health burden on society. Available data do not allow a full accounting of costs due to a lack of information regarding outpatient expenses, as well as the cost of ancillary evaluation and treatment. However, the magnitude of the burden suggests the importance of further research and data collection of health care utilization in the pediatric population.
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