Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 20, 2026
Author Spotlight: Exploring Venous Waveforms in Porcine Models to Tackle Volume Overload in Medicine
Published on: January 12, 2024
Characteristics of Rural Children Admitted to Pediatric Hospitals
Alon Peltz1, Chang L Wu2, Marjorie Lee White2
1Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut; Department of Pediatrics, Boston Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts; alon.peltz@yale.edu.
Insights
Rural children face greater challenges in healthcare, experiencing worse health outcomes and higher hospital costs. This study highlights their increased medical complexity and need for better access to care.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health Services Research
- Rural Health Disparities
- Healthcare Access and Quality
Background:
- Children in rural areas often have poorer health outcomes compared to their nonrural counterparts.
- Delivering high-quality pediatric care in rural settings presents unique challenges.
- This study examines the characteristics and hospitalizations of rural children in US children's hospitals.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the characteristics of rural children admitted to children's hospitals.
- To compare hospital utilization patterns between rural and nonrural children.
- To identify disparities in care and outcomes for hospitalized rural children.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective cohort analysis of over 670,000 admissions in 2012 from the Pediatric Health Information System database.
- Utilized ZIP codes to classify patients' rurality, Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) status, and family income.
- Employed multivariable regression to compare patient characteristics and hospital utilization between rural and nonrural populations.
Main Results:
- Rural children represented 12% of admissions and lived farther from hospitals (median 68 miles vs. 12 miles).
- Rural children more frequently resided in low-income ZIP codes (53% vs. 24%) and HPSAs (20% vs. 4%).
- Rural children exhibited higher rates of complex chronic conditions (44% vs. 37%), higher inpatient costs ($8507 vs. $7814), and increased 30-day readmission odds (OR 1.1).
Conclusions:
- Hospitalized rural children present with significant medical complexity and often come from underserved, low-income areas.
- Rural children incur higher hospitalization costs and experience more frequent readmissions compared to nonrural children.
- Findings underscore the need for targeted interventions to address healthcare disparities faced by rural pediatric populations.
Background And Objectives:
Delivering high-quality care to children living in rural areas can be challenging. Compared with nonrural children, rural children often experience worse health outcomes. We assessed characteristics and hospitalizations of rural children admitted to US children's hospitals in 2012.
Methods:
Retrospective cohort analysis of 672190 admissions between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2012, to 41 children's hospitals in the Pediatric Health Information System database. ZIP codes were used to assess the patients' rurality (by using Rural-Urban Community Areas classification), residence in a Health Professional Shortage Area, and family income. Multivariable regression was used to compare patient characteristics and hospital utilization between rural and nonrural children.
Results:
Rural children accounted for 12% of all admissions (n = 81 360) to the children's hospitals. Compared with nonrural children, rural children lived farther from the hospital (median [interquartile range]: 68 [48-104] vs 12 [6-24] miles) and more often resided in low-income ZIP codes (53% vs 24%) and Health Professional Shortage Areas (20% vs 4%) (P < .001 for all). Rural children had a higher prevalence of complex chronic conditions (44% vs 37%; P < .001) and medical technology assistance (15% vs 12%; P < .001). In multivariable analysis, rural children experienced higher inpatient costs (mean: $8507 vs $7814; P < .001) and higher odds of 30-day readmission (odds ratio: 1.1; 95% confidence interval: 1.0-1.1; P < .001).
Conclusions:
Rural children hospitalized at children's hospitals have high rates of medical complexity and often reside in low-income and medically underserved areas. Compared with nonrural children, rural children experience more expensive hospitalizations and more frequent readmissions.
Related Concept Videos
01:30Specialized Care Centers and Settings-II
Rural health centers are specialized care facilities in remote locations with very few medical personnel. The primary care providers who run the centers are mostly Registered Nurse Practitioners. Here, emergency treatment is provided to critically ill or injured patients before they are transferred to the closest hospital. Fortunately, due to advancement in technology, many rural healthcare facilities and professionals have easy access to diagnostic and treatment...
01:23Pharmacokinetics in Pediatric Patients: Overview and Drug Absorption
01:26Pharmacokinetics in Pediatric Patients: Drug Excretion
01:17Pharmacokinetics in Pediatric Patients: Drug Distribution
01:29Drug Dosing: Infants and Children
01:30Specialized Care Centers and Settings-I
Daycare centers
They provide several functions. Some facilities care for healthy newborns and children whose parents work, while others are medically focused and care for...