Identifying Post-Discharge Needs in Pediatric Trauma Patients Through a Standardized Follow-up Telephone Program

Although advances in pediatric trauma care have improved survival, many patients experience unmet medical, social, and psychological needs after hospital discharge. Strategies to identify these needs remain limited. This study aimed to characterize unmet post-discharge needs among pediatric trauma patients and identify patient populations most likely to require additional support.

A retrospective review was conducted of prospectively collected follow-up data from patients < 18 years who presented as Tier 1 or 2 trauma activations to an American College of Surgeons-verified Level II trauma center trauma between February 2023-December 2023 and October 2024-December 2024. All patients received a standardized telephone call 30 days after discharge assessing medical, social, and psychological needs.

A total of 419 patients were included, and 237 (57%) completed the 30-day follow-up phone call. Follow-up rates were highest among patients residing out of state (66%), those with child protective services involvement (63%), those with private insurance (65%), and non-English-speaking families (71%). Among patients reached, 66 (27%) requested further intervention, including mental health services, appointment scheduling or referrals, transportation assistance, or Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) social services. Unmet needs were most common among patients who attend public or charter schools (37%) and among patients injured by animal attacks (25%), burn/fireworks (25%), and gunshot wounds (GSW) (20%).

Many pediatric trauma patients continue to have unmet needs after discharge. Structured follow-up calls may help identify barriers to recovery and facilitate access to needed medical, social, and psychological resources for patients and families after traumatic injury.

Retrospective LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III.