Neighborhood risk: Socioeconomic status and hospital admission for pediatric burn patients. Issue 6 (September 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hunter, Mary A.; Schlichting, Lauren E.; Rogers, Michelle L.; Harrington, David T.; Vivier, Patrick M.
• Is Part Of: Burns. Volume 47:Issue 6(2021)
• Page Start: 1451
• Page End: 1455
• Publication Date: 2021-09
• Subjects: SES socioeconomic status -- ED emergency department -- NRI Neighborhood Risk Index -- US United States -- WHO World Health Organization -- CDC Center for Disease Control -- ICD-9 Internation Classification of Dieases Ninth Revision; Burn injury -- Socioeconomic status -- Pediatric -- Emergency department; Burns and scalds -- Periodicals; 617.11
• DOI: 10.1016/j.burns.2020.12.002
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0305-4179

Abstract

Highlights: Lower socioeconomic status has been associated with increased incidence of burn injury in pediatric patients. Pediatric burn patients with lower socioeconomic status have a higher likelihood of inpatient admission when seen in the ED. Pediatric burn patients who live farther from the hospital have a higher likelihood of inpatient admission from the ED. Abstract: Background: Burn injury continues to cause significant morbidity and mortality in the US pediatric population. Many studies using inpatient samples have found a relationship between low socioeconomic status (SES) and burn injury. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the association between SES and the likelihood of admission for Emergency Department (ED) visits for pediatric burn injury. Study design: A retrospective database review of pediatric ED visits for burn injury from a statewide hospital system, from January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2014. SES was assigned using an eight factor Neighborhood Risk Index (NRI) created from census block group data, with a higher score indicative of lower SES. The outcome measure was ED visits admitted to inpatient care. Results: We analyzed a sample of 1845 pediatric ED visits for burn injuries. Most visits were discharged from the ED (88.4%) while 10.5% were admitted to inpatient care and 1.0% were transferred to another hospital. In a multivariable logistic regression model, patients from high risk areas (> 75th percentile NRI) had 1.58 higher odds of inpatient admission compared to patients from low risk areas (<75th percentile NRI; 95% CI: 1.08–2.30), after adjusting for age, gender, ethnicity, distance to the hospital, and previous ED visit for burn injury in the past 30 days. In addition, for every 1-mile increase in distance, a child's likelihood of admission increased by 6% (95% CI: 4–9%). Conclusions: Children with a burn injury from the highest risk socioeconomic areas in Rhode Island had a higher likelihood of inpatient admission. Further research is needed to determine what factors associated with socioeconomic status impact this finding.