Health Care Resource Use and Costs After Hospitalization With Multiple Organ Dysfunction in Children.

Area of Science:

• Pediatric critical care medicine
• Health services research
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Multiple organ dysfunction (MOD) is a primary cause of child mortality during hospitalization.
• The long-term healthcare resource utilization and associated costs for children surviving MOD are not well-documented.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the longitudinal healthcare resource use and costs in infants and children following hospitalization with MOD.

Main Methods:

• A retrospective cohort study utilized nationwide insurance claims data from 2004-2019.
• Propensity score weighting balanced MOD and non-MOD cohorts (birth to 18 years).
• Generalized estimating equations analyzed differences in rehospitalizations, ED visits, and costs up to 5 years post-hospitalization.

Main Results:

• The MOD cohort (9,671 children) showed significantly higher emergency department visits and rehospitalizations compared to the non-MOD cohort (1,691,793 children) for up to 5 years.
• Infants with MOD experienced a 1.76-fold increase in ED visits and a 12.45-fold increase in rehospitalizations at 30 days, persisting long-term.
• Annual healthcare costs were substantially higher for the MOD cohort, particularly in the first year post-hospitalization.

Conclusions:

• Children surviving MOD incur considerable ongoing healthcare resource use and costs.
• Follow-up care for MOD survivors should integrate economic well-being assessments with clinical health monitoring.
• These findings underscore the substantial post-hospitalization burden on survivors of pediatric MOD.