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The cost of medical care for injuries to children
M Malek1, B H Chang, S S Gallagher
1Injury Control Center, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02115.
Insights
Childhood injuries cost the US billions annually, with higher costs for adolescents. Injury prevention for children needs greater priority. Developing a national surveillance system is recommended.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Pediatric Medicine
- Health Economics
Background:
- Childhood injuries represent a significant public health concern.
- Estimating the economic burden of pediatric injuries is crucial for resource allocation and prevention strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the average cost of initial medical treatment for various injury types and causes in children.
- To project the total national expenditure for initial medical care of injuries among children in the United States.
Main Methods:
- Utilized injury incidence data from the Massachusetts Statewide Childhood Injury Prevention Project (SCIPP).
- Integrated claims data from the Health Data Institute (1987 charges) for cost analysis.
- Analyzed data from hospital emergency departments and inpatient facilities for children aged 0-19.
Main Results:
- The mean cost for initial injury hospitalization was $5,094, and for emergency department (ED) care was $171.
- Projected annual national cost for initial medical care of childhood injuries was $5.1 billion.
- Injury costs increased with age, with teenagers (15-19 years) incurring significantly higher costs due to incidence and cost per injury.
Conclusions:
- Medical care expenditures for injured children, especially adolescents, are substantial.
- There is a critical need to prioritize childhood injury prevention in the US.
- A national surveillance system for nonfatal injuries is recommended to enhance the accuracy of national injury cost and incidence estimates.
Study Objectives:
To estimate the mean cost of initial medical treatment for a variety of injury types and injury causes and project the national cost of initial medical care for injuries to children.
Design:
We combined injury incidence data from the Massachusetts Statewide Childhood Injury Prevention Project (SCIPP) with a claims data set (1987 charges) from the Health Data Institute, Lexington, Massachusetts.
Setting And Study Population:
SCIPP incidence data were obtained from hospital emergency department and inpatient facilities for a population of 87,000 Massachusetts children 0 to 19 years old between 1979 and 1982. Health Data Institute charge data for children were derived from insurance claims for 3% of all privately insured patients throughout the United States.
Results:
The estimated mean cost of initial hospitalization for injury was $5,094, while ED care was $171. Projected annual cost for initial medical care of injury to children for the nation was $5.1 billion, which was about equally divided between cases seen in EDs and those requiring inpatient care. Although there was little difference in mean cost between the genders, mean cost increased with age. Because of both a higher injury incidence and a greater mean cost per injury, the projected initial cost of injuries to teenagers 15 to 19 years old was much higher than that of younger children.
Conclusion:
Expenditures for medical care of injured children, particularly adolescents, are great. The prevention of childhood injuries should become a higher priority in the United States. To improve the quality of national estimates of the incidence and cost of injury, a national surveillance system for nonfatal injuries should be developed. Such a system should include information on the major causes of injury and their costs.