Publication Date
7-1-2022
Journal
Neurogastroenterology & Motility
DOI
10.1111/nmo.14288
PMID
34796594
PMCID
PMC9117572
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
7-1-2023
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Author MSS
Published Open-Access
yes
Keywords
Abdominal Pain, Adolescent, Child, Child, Preschool, Constipation, Delivery of Health Care, Dyspepsia, Gastrointestinal Diseases, Hospitalization, Humans, Somatoform Disorders, United States, constipation, abdominal pain, irritable bowel syndrome, costs, prevalence
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The healthcare burden of pediatric functional gastrointestinal pain disorders (FGIDs) is unclear. Our study aimed to characterize the burden of these hospitalizations in the United States (US).
METHODS: We utilized the US National Inpatient Sample from 2002 to 2018 to capture pediatric hospitalizations (ages 4 to 18 years old) with a primary discharge diagnosis of abdominal pain, constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, dyspepsia, abdominal migraine, cyclic vomiting syndrome, or fecal incontinence. We calculated the FGID hospitalization prevalence rate, length of stay (LOS), and inflation-adjusted costs annually and assessed for statistically significant trend changes using joinpoint analyses.
KEY RESULTS: 22.3 million pediatric hospitalizations were captured, and 1 in 64 pediatric hospitalizations were attributed to a primary FGID hospitalization. The overall FGID hospitalization prevalence rate initially remained stable but decreased significantly from 2013 to 2018. Constipation and abdominal pain hospitalization rates, respectively, increased and decreased significantly over time. Constipation hospitalizations were more prevalent for younger non-Hispanic Blacks and Hispanics. FGID hospitalization rates stratified by sex were similar. Mean LOS was 2.3 days; average LOS increased significantly from 2002 to 2013 and then stabilized. FGID hospitalization costs averaged $6,216 per admission and increased significantly for all FGIDs except dyspepsia. Endoscopic procedures were the most common interventions.
CONCLUSIONS & INFERENCES: FGID hospitalization prevalence rates decreased recently, possibly due to national healthcare policy implementation. Nonetheless, constipation admissions increased. LOS was stable in recent years but associated costs-per-hospitalization were increasing over time, probably due to endoscopic procedures. More studies are needed to explain these prevalence and cost trends.
Included in
Digestive System Diseases Commons, Gastroenterology Commons, Medical Sciences Commons, Pain Management Commons, Pediatrics Commons
