Trends and Resource Utilization in Kawasaki Disease Hospitalizations in the United States, 2008-2017

To explore trends in hospitalization rate, resource use, and outcomes of Kawasaki Disease (KD) in children in the United States from 2008 to 2017.

This was a retrospective, serial cross-sectional analysis of pediatric hospitalizations with International Classification of Disease diagnostic codes for KD in the National Inpatient Sample. Hospitalization rates per 100 000 populations were calculated and stratified by age group, gender, race, and US census region. Prevalence of coronary artery aneurysms (CAA) were expressed as proportions of KD hospitalizations. Resource use was defined in terms of length of stay and hospital cost. Cochran-Armitage and Jonckheere-Terpstra trend tests were used for categorical and continuous variables, respectively. P <.05 was considered significant.

A total of 43 028 pediatric hospitalizations identified with KD, yielding an overall hospitalization rate of 5.5 per 100 000 children. The overall KD hospitalization rate remained stable over the study period (P = .18). Although KD hospitalization rates differed by age group, gender, race, and census region, a significant increase was observed among Native Americans (P = .048). Rates of CAA among KD hospitalization increased from 2.4% to 6.8% (P = .04). Length of stay remained stable at 2 to 3 days, but inflation-adjusted hospital cost increased from $6819 in 2008 to $10 061 in 2017 (Ptrend < 0.001).

Hospitalization-associated costs and rates of CAA diagnostic codes among KD hospitalizations increased, despite a stable KD hospitalization rate between 2008 and 2017. These findings warrant further investigation and confirmation with databases with granular clinical information.