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A new pediatric trauma center quality benchmarking metric: Center-level variability in postinjury functional
Maria Rh Castro1, Amy Shui, Catherine Lee
1Division of Pediatric Surgery, University of California, San Francisco Benioff Children's Hospital, Oakland (M.R.H.C., A.R.J.); Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California (A.S., C.L.); Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Division of Pediatric Rehabilitation, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas (C.N.); Division of General Surgery, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (A.B.N.); Division of Trauma and Burn Surgery, Children's National Hospital, Washington, District of Columbia (R.S.B.).
Insights
Functional impairment in pediatric trauma varies by trauma center, indicating care quality differences. These outcomes are modifiable, suggesting potential improvements in pediatric trauma care.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Trauma Care
- Functional Outcomes Research
- Health Services Research
Background:
- Millions of children experience injuries annually in the U.S., resulting in significant disability-adjusted life years.
- Functional outcomes after pediatric injury are not routinely measured, leaving the impact of trauma center care unclear.
- This study aimed to assess variations in functional impairment rates among pediatric trauma centers.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the variability in functional impairment rates across different pediatric trauma centers.
- To determine if functional outcomes after pediatric injury are influenced by the quality of trauma center care.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of the prospective "Assessment of Health-Related Quality of Life and Functional Outcomes after Pediatric Trauma" dataset.
- Assessment of functional status using the Functional Status Scale (FSS) at discharge and 6-month follow-up in children (≤14 years).
- Utilized multivariable logistic regression and propensity score modeling for risk-adjusted comparisons of functional impairment rates between centers.
Main Results:
- Functional impairment (FSS ≥ 7) was observed in 51% of children at discharge and 25% at 6-month follow-up.
- Patient and injury characteristics explained 55% of FSS variability at discharge and 14% at follow-up.
- Significant differences in unadjusted functional impairment were noted between centers at discharge (36-70%), with outlier centers identified via observed-to-expected ratios.
Conclusions:
- While patient and injury factors significantly influence functional impairment, variability between trauma centers persists after risk adjustment.
- Observed differences in functional outcomes suggest that these outcomes are modifiable and linked to trauma center care quality.
- Findings highlight the importance of assessing functional outcomes to improve pediatric trauma care standards.
Background:
Over 7 million children are injured annually in the United States, leading to 500,000 disability-adjusted life years. Functional outcomes after injury, however, are not routinely measured. Whether disability is modifiable by trauma center care remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to assess variability between trauma centers in functional impairment rates.
Methods:
The "Assessment of Health-Related Quality of Life and Functional Outcomes after Pediatric Trauma" prospective observational dataset was analyzed. Functional status among injured children (≤14 y) was assessed at discharge and 6-month follow-up using the Functional Status Scale (FSS). Multivariable logistic regression was used to calculate variability in FSS explained by nonmodifiable patient and injury characteristics. Propensity score modeling was used to estimate the expected functional impairment rates for each trauma center based on age, GCS, injury mechanism, number of body regions injured, and the presence of serious body region-specific injuries. Observed impairment rates were used to calculate observed-to-expected (O:E) ratios for risk-adjusted comparison between centers.
Results:
The cohort included 427 patients from seven centers. Functional impairment (FSS ≥ 7) occurred in 217 (51%) children at discharge and in 81 of 324 (25%) at follow-up. Patient and injury characteristics explained 55% of the variability in FSS at discharge and 14% at follow-up. Unadjusted functional impairment differed between centers at discharge (range 36-70%, p =0.03), but not significantly at 6-month follow-up (range 12-36%, p =0.06). One high-impairment outlier center [O:E 1.38 (1.01, 1.84)] at discharge and one low-impairment outlier center [O:E 0.50 (0.23, 0.94)] at 6-month follow-up were identified.
Conclusions:
Most functional impairment after pediatric injury is explained by patient and injury characteristics, but variability in functional impairment exists between trauma centers after adjusting for these factors. Differences in functional outcomes between centers suggest that these outcomes are modifiable and are associated with the quality of trauma center care. ( J Trauma Acute Care Surg . 2026;101: 423-429. Copyright © 2026 Wolters Kluwer Health, LLC. All rights reserved.).
Level Of Evidence:
Prognostic/Epidemiological; Level III.
