1. Hospital care in the first 10 years of life of children with congenital anomalies in six European countries:data from the EUROlinkCAT cohort linkage study
- Author
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Morris, Joan K, Loane, Maria, Wahlich, Charlotte, Tan, Joachim, Baldacci, Silvia, Ballardini, Elisa, Cavero-Carbonell, Clara, Damkjær, Mads, García-Villodre, Laura, Gissler, Mika, Given, Joanne, Gorini, Francesca, Heino, Anna, Limb, Elizabeth, Lutke, Renee, Neville, Amanda, Rissmann, Anke, Scanlon, Leuan, Tucker, David F, Urhoj, Stine Kjaer, de Walle, Hermien Ek, Garne, Ester, Morris, Joan K, Loane, Maria, Wahlich, Charlotte, Tan, Joachim, Baldacci, Silvia, Ballardini, Elisa, Cavero-Carbonell, Clara, Damkjær, Mads, García-Villodre, Laura, Gissler, Mika, Given, Joanne, Gorini, Francesca, Heino, Anna, Limb, Elizabeth, Lutke, Renee, Neville, Amanda, Rissmann, Anke, Scanlon, Leuan, Tucker, David F, Urhoj, Stine Kjaer, de Walle, Hermien Ek, and Garne, Ester
- Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To quantify the hospital care for children born with a major congenital anomaly up to 10 years of age compared with children without a congenital anomaly.DESIGN, SETTING AND PATIENTS: 79 591 children with congenital anomalies and 2 021 772 children without congenital anomalies born 1995-2014 in six European countries in seven regions covered by congenital anomaly registries were linked to inpatient electronic health records up to their 10th birthday.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Number of days in hospital and number of surgeries.RESULTS: During the first year of life among the seven regions, a median of 2.4% (IQR: 2.3, 3.2) of children with a congenital anomaly accounted for 18% (14, 24) of days in hospital and 63% (62, 76) of surgeries. Over the first 10 years of life, the percentages were 17% (15, 20) of days in hospital and 20% (19, 22) of surgeries. Children with congenital anomalies spent 8.8 (7.5, 9.9) times longer in hospital during their first year of life than children without anomalies (18 days compared with 2 days) and 5 (4.1-6.1) times longer aged, 5-9 (0.5 vs 0.1 days). In the first year of life, children with gastrointestinal anomalies spent 40 times longer and those with severe heart anomalies 20 times longer in hospital reducing to over 5 times longer when aged 5-9.CONCLUSIONS: Children with a congenital anomaly consume a significant proportion of hospital care resources. Priority should be given to public health primary prevention measures to reduce the risk of congenital anomalies.
- Published
- 2024