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Hospital-based emergency department visits in children with motor vehicle traffic accidents: estimates from the nationwide emergency department sample
Veerajalandhar Allareddy, Ingrid M Anderson, Min Kyeong Lee, Veerasathpurush Allareddy, Sankeerth Rampa, Romesh P Nalliah
Boston, MA, USA
Author Affiliations: Department of Pediatric Critical Care and Pharmacology, Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital, University Hospitals, Case Medical Center (Allareddy V, Anderson IM); Department of Developmental Biology, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, MA (Lee MK); Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA (Allareddy V); Nance College of Business Administration, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio (Rampa S); Office of Dental Education, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, MA, United States (Nalliah RP)
Corresponding Author: Romesh P Nalliah, BDS, Senior Tutor, Offi ce of Dental Education, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, MA, United States (Tel: 617-817-2301; Email: Romesh_nalliah@hsdm.harvard.edu)
doi: 10.1007/s12519-014-0521-x
Online First November 2014.
Background: The purpose of this study is to provide nationally representative estimates of children visiting hospital-based emergency departments (ED) for motor vechicle traffic accidents (MVTA) in the United States during the year of 2008.
Methods: Nationwide Emergency Department Sample for 2008 was used. All pediatric (age ¡Ü18 years) ED visits with external cause for injury ICD-9-diagnostic codes for MVTA were selected. Outcomes examined included discharge status following ED visit and presence of concomitant injuries. Descriptive statistics was used to summarize the estimates.
Results: Totally 604 027 hospital-based ED visits occurred in the United States among children (age ¡Ü18 years) due to MVTA. Following an ED visit, 91% were discharged routinely, while 6% were admitted as inpatients into the same hospital. A total of 928 children died in the ED. A total of 34 004 ED visits required inpatient admission into the same hospital and 768 patients died during hospitalization. Mean charge per ED visit was $1887 and total ED charges across the United States were close to $970 million. Among those admitted into the same hospital following ED visit (n=34 004), the mean hospitalization charge was $53 726 and total hospitalization charge across the entire United States were $1.8 billion.
Conclusions: Study findings illustrate the burden associated with pediatric ED visits due to MVTA. Close to $970 million of hospital charges were incurred by children who made an ED visit due to a MVTA during 2008 and about $1.8 billion was incurred among those hospitalized following an ED visit.
World J Pediatr 2015;11(3):261-266
Key words: emergency; hospital; traffic accidents
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