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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 Dec 10.
Published in final edited form as: Child Maltreat. 2015 Apr 24;20(3):162–169. doi: 10.1177/1077559515583549

Table 2.

Factors Associated With Per-Visit Hospital Costs for Pediatric Abusive Head Trauma, 2006–2011.

Emergency Department Treat and Release Visits (N = 6,827)
Inpatient Admissions (N = 12,533)
Category Factor n (%) survey weighteda exp(β),95% CI n (%) survey weighteda exp(β),95% CI
Age <1 year 3,004 (44) (Reference) 9,263 (74) (Reference)
1–4 years 3,823 (56) 0.77 [0.65, 0.90]* 3,270 (26) 1.09 [0.89, 1.33]
Sex Female 3,005 (44) (Reference) 5,098 (41) (Reference)
Male 3,822 (56) 1.11 [0.93, 1.32] 7,435 (59) 1.13 [1.02, 1.26]*
Race White NR — 4,732 (38) (Reference)
Black NR — 1,856 (15) 1.07 [0.86, 1.34]
Hispanic NR — 2,059 (16) 1.12 [0.92, 1.36]
Other NR — 988 (8) 1.09 [0.85, 1.39]
Unknown NR 2,897 (23) 1.13 [0.90, 1.43]
Chronic conditionb No 6,291 (92) (Reference) 9,486 (76) (Reference)
Yes 536 (8) 2.63 [1.52, 4.57]* 3,047 (24) 1.66 [1.43, 1.94)**
Admission source Routinec NA — 3,278 (26) (Reference)
ER NA — 5,640 (45) 1.02 [0.84, 1.25]
Another facility NA — 3,576 (29) 1.19 [0.96, 1.47]
Unknown NA 39 (0) 0.30 [0.14, 0.62])*
Discharge status Routined 5,711 (84) (Reference) 9,824 (78) (Reference)
Another facility 1,081 (16) 3.04 [2.49, .71]** 1,379 (11) 2.20 [1.78, 2.73]**
Died 35 (1) 3.70 [1.97, 6.97]** 1,330 (11) 1.59 [1.25, 2.03]**
Household income quartile 1 2,543 (37) 0.97 [0.74, 1.25] 4,349 (35) 0.78 [0.61, 0.99]*
2 2,102 (31) 1.01 [0.77, 1.31] 3,594 (29) 0.83 [0.64, 1.07]
3 1,233 (18) 0.84 [0.65, 1.10] 2,672 (21) 0.87 [0.69, 1.10]
4 (Highest income) 844 (12) (Reference) 1,585 (13) (Reference)
Unknown 105 (2) 0.80 [0.56, 1.15] 332 (3) 0.70 [0.51, 0.97]*
Primary payer Private 1,889 (28) (Reference) 2,149 (17) (Reference)
Public (Medicare/Medicaid) 4,093 (60) 1.33 [1.09, 1.61)* 9,474 (76) 1.11 [0.92, 1.34)
Self-pay 571 (8) 0.91 [0.69, 1.22] 298 (2) 1.05 [0.61, 1.83]
Unknown 274 (4) 1.12 [0.77, 1.64] 611 (5) 1.20 [0.86, 1.68]
ED trauma level Nontrauma 3,238 (47) (Reference) — —
Trauma 3,589 (53) 1.34 [1.07, 1.69]* — —
Hospital size Small NR — 1,487 (12) 1.3 [0.93, 1.80]
Medium NR — 2,233 (18) 1.07 [0.86, 1.33]
Large NR — 8,497 (68) (Reference)
Unknown NR — 317 (3) 0.84 [0.59, 1.19]
Hospital location and teaching status Rural 1,213 (18) 0.61 [0.45, 0.83]* 311 (2) 0.61 [0.33, 1.13]
Urban, nonteaching 2,078 (30) 0.65 [0.51, 0.84]* 1,167 (9) 0.88 [0.66, 1.19]
Urban, teaching 3,536 (52) (Reference) 10,738 (86) (Reference)
Unknown 0 NA 317 (3) NR
Hospital region Northeast 1,674 (25) (Reference) 1,858 (15) (Reference)
Midwest 1,914 (28) 0.97 [0.69, 1.38] 3,037 (24) 0.89 [0.62, 1.28]
South 2,792 (41) 1.33 [0.94, 1.89] 4,997 (40) 0.8 [0.57, 1.13]
West 448 (7) 1.04 [0.67, 1.63] 2,641 (21) 0.94 [0.66, 1.35]
Year 2006 1,094 (19) (Reference) 1,961 (19) (Reference)
2007 1,223 (18) 0.91 [0.72, 1.15] 2,075 (17) 0.98 [0.70, 1.37]
2008 1,161 (17) 0.86 [0.67, 1.11] 1,983 (16) 0.91 [0.66, 1.27]
2009 1,154 (17) 1.03 [0.80, 1.32] 2,036 (16) 0.84 [0.65, 1.09]
2010 1,009 (15) 0.81 [0.61, 1.09] 2,688 (21) 1.08 [0.82, 1.44]
2011 1,186 (17) 1.24 [0.75, 2.06] 1,790 (14) 0.96 [0.72, 1.3]

Note. Data are results from multivariable generalized linear models with log link, gamma variance, and survey design. In the calculation of standard errors, strata with single sample units (ED: n = 23/111 strata; inpatient: 19/46 strata) used an average of the variances from other strata with multiple sampling units (StataCorps, 2013). Models included all listed variables. ED = emergency department, exp(β) = exponentiated coefficient (interpreted as a multiplicative change in the dependent variable—total cost per visit—associated with a unit change in an independent variable), NA = not applicable, NR = not reported, 95% CI = confidence interval.

a

Survey data reweighted to accommodate missing cost data: ED: n = 889/6,827 (13%); inpatient: n = 88/12,533 (<1%; Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, 2013a).

b

Chronic conditions defined as the following conditions (ICD-9-CM codes) documented on discharge records: epilepsy/recurrent seizures (345), developmental delays (315), other nervous symptoms (781), congenital anomalies (740–759), conditions originating in the perinatal period (760–779), and other chronic conditions (299, 343, 317–319, 677, 369, and 389) (Niederkrotenthaler et al. 2013).

c

Includes birth and unspecified admissions.

d

Includes patients discharged: against medical advice; alive, destination unknown; to court or law enforcement; and to home health care.

*

p < .05.

**

p < .001.