Table 1. Characteristics of Patient Population during initial admission with Inguinal Hernia Diagnosis.
| Total Cohort (N=2030) | Propensity-score matched cohort (N=944) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variable | Early (N=1363) | Delayed (N=667) | P | Early (N=472) | Delayed (N=472) | P |
| Age at admission (days) | 8 (0, 67) | 3 (0, 52) | 0.002 | 7 (0, 66) | 11 (0, 62) | 0.90 |
| Age at hernia repair (days) | 84 (57, 108) | 153 (112, 207) | <.001 | 88 (58, 110) | 153 (111, 212) | <.001 |
| Male | 1157 (84.9) | 603 (90.4) | <.001 | 422 (89.4) | 423 (89.6) | 0.92 |
| Birth Weight (g)a | 920 (720,1392) | 910 (709, 1343) | 0.29 | 977 (731,1500) | 1016 (750, 1468) | 0.53 |
| Post conceptual age at hernia repair (weeks)b | 39 (37, 42) | 49 (44, 55) | <.001 | 40 (38, 43) | 49 (44, 56) | <.001 |
| Gestational age (weeks)b | 27 (25, 30) | 28 (25, 31) | 0.07 | 28 (25, 31) | 28 (26, 31) | 0.49 |
| Race | ||||||
| White | 768 (56.4) | 359 (53.8) | 0.20 | 255 (54.0) | 256 (54.2) | 0.99 |
| Black | 340 (24.9) | 191 (28.6) | 90 (19.1) | 91 (19.3) | ||
| Other/Unknown | 255 (18.7) | 117 (17.5) | 127 (26.9) | 125 (26.5) | ||
| Insurance | ||||||
| Government | 732 (53.7) | 348 (52.2) | 0.006 | 261 (55.3) | 257 (54.4) | 0.94 |
| Private | 497 (36.5) | 222 (33.3) | 148 (31.4) | 153 (32.4) | ||
| Other/Unknown | 134 (9.8) | 97 (14.5) | 63 (13.3) | 62 (13.1) | ||
| Premature | 938 (68.8) | 483 (72.4) | 0.10 | 314 (66.5) | 317 (67.2) | 0.84 |
| Any congenital anomaly | 848 (62.2) | 452 (67.8) | 0.01 | 308 (65.3) | 301 (63.8) | 0.63 |
| Respiratory failure | 586 (43.0) | 312 (46.8) | 0.11 | 193 (40.9) | 186 (39.4) | 0.64 |
| NEC | 108 (7.9) | 47 (7.1) | 0.48 | 35 (7.4) | 28 (5.9) | 0.36 |
| Mechanical ventilationc | 1044 (76.6) | 568 (85.2) | <.001 | 385 (81.6) | 389 (82.4) | 0.73 |
| TPNc | 845 (62.0) | 499 (74.8) | <.001 | 328 (69.5) | 323 (68.4) | 0.73 |
| Blood product c | 478 (35.1) | 312 (46.8) | <.001 | 203 (43.0) | 198 (41.9) | 0.74 |
| LOS (days) prior to hernia repair (early) or discharge (delayed) | 48 (3, 85) | 54 (18, 87) | <.001 | 48 (8, 89) | 46 (11, 83) | 0.86 |
| Total LOS (days) initial admission | 59 (9, 99) | 54 (18, 87) | 0.38 | 64 (17, 106) | 46 (11, 83) | <.001 |
| Incarceration diagnosis at initial admission | 161 (11.8) | 10 (1.5) | <.001 | 11 (2.3) | 10 (2.1) | 0.83 |
| Hospital's average annual case load of neonatal inguinal hernia patients | ||||||
| 1-6 | 220 (16.1) | 133 (19.9) | <.001 | 109 (23.1) | 102 (21.6) | 0.72 |
| 6-10 | 374 (27.4) | 239 (35.8) | 159 (33.7) | 154 (32.6) | ||
| >10 | 769 (56.4) | 295 (44.2) | 204 (43.2) | 216 (45.8) | ||
Data are presented as number of patients (%) or median (IQR).
a
Early cohort N=896, Delayed Cohort N=487.
b
Early cohort N=819, Delayed Cohort N=419.
c
For the early group, only days prior to the hernia repair were included. NEC, necrotizing enterocolitis; TPN, total parenteral nutrition; LOS, length of stay.