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BACKGROUND Illness complications are condition-specific adverse outcomes. Detecting complications of pediatric illness in administrative data would facilitate widespread quality measurement, however the accuracy of such detection is unclear. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional study of patients visiting a large pediatric emergency department. We analyzed those RESULTS We analyzed 1534 encounters. PPVs and NPVs for complications were >80% for 8 of 14 conditions: appendicitis, bacterial meningitis, intussusception, mastoiditis, myocarditis, orbital cellulitis, sepsis, and testicular torsion. Lower PPVs for complications were observed for DKA (57%), empyema (53%), encephalitis (78%), ovarian torsion (21%), and septic arthritis (64%). A lower NPV was observed in stroke (68%). The κ between reviewers was 0.88. CONCLUSIONS An automated method to measure complications by using administrative data can detect complications in appendicitis, bacterial meningitis, intussusception, mastoiditis, myocarditis, orbital cellulitis, sepsis, and testicular torsion. For DKA, empyema, encephalitis, ovarian torsion, septic arthritis, and stroke, the tool may be used to screen for complicated cases that may subsequently undergo manual review.

OBJECTIVE We aimed to characterize recent trends in bronchiolitis at US children’s hospitals and to compare severity of illness in bronchiolitis in the most recent year to the previous seasonal epidemics. METHODS This is a cross-sectional study of visits for bronchiolitis in infants RESULTS The study included 389 411 emergency visits for bronchiolitis. Median age of infants with bronchiolitis was higher in October 2020 to September 2021 compared to previous epidemics (8 and 6 months, respectively, P < .001) The odds of hospitalization, ICU admission, invasive mechanical ventilation, and noninvasive ventilation did not differ in October 2020 to September 2021 compared to previous epidemics from October 2016 to September 2020 (all P > .05 for unadjusted models and models adjusted for age). Seasonality varied significantly among these 2 periods (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS Although the seasonality of bronchiolitis differed in October 2020 to September 2021, severity of illness in infants with bronchiolitis was consistent with previous epidemics.

OBJECTIVES We examined trends in resource use for infants undergoing emergency department evaluation for serious bacterial infection, including lumbar puncture (LP), antibiotic administration, hospitalization, and procalcitonin testing, as well as the association between procalcitonin testing and LP, administration of parenteral antibiotics, and hospitalization. METHODS We performed a cross-sectional study of infants aged 0 to 60 days who underwent emergency department evaluation for serious bacterial infection with blood and urine cultures from 2010 to 2019 in 27 hospitals in the Pediatric Health Information System. We examined temporal trends in LP, antibiotic administration, hospitalization, and procalcitonin testing from 2010 to 2019. We also estimated multivariable logistic regression models for 2017–2019, adjusted for demographic factors and stratified by age ( RESULTS We studied 106 547 index visits. From 2010 to 2019, rates of LP, antibiotic administration, and hospitalization decreased more for infants aged 29 to 60 days compared with infants aged 0 to 28 days (annual decrease in odds of LP, antibiotics administration, and hospitalization: 0 to 28 days: 5%, 5%, and 3%, respectively; 29–60 days: 15%, 12%, and 7%, respectively). Procalcitonin testing increased significantly each calendar year (odds ratio per calendar year 2.19; 95% confidence interval 1.82–2.62), with the majority (91.1%) performed during 2017–2019. From 2017 to 2019, there was no association between hospital-level procalcitonin testing and any outcome studied (all P values > .05). CONCLUSIONS Rates of LP, antibiotic administration, and hospitalization decreased significantly for infants 29 to 60 days during 2010–2019. Although procalcitonin testing increased during 2017–2019, we found no association with hospital-level procalcitonin testing and patterns of resource use.

Pediatric emergency care research suffers from a generalizability problem. Such research in the United States largely relies on data collected from within academic medical centers or large health systems with the infrastructure to conduct and publish clinical research. Such research also includes studies ranging from trials of fluid infusion rates for diabetic ketoacidosis1 from the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network to retrospective cohort studies defining the incidence of herpes simplex virus by week of life.2 This research is extremely valuable because it informs how to distribute limited health care resources and where to focus efforts to improve care. However, academic and large health systems are a narrow lens through which to view care because 90% of children do not visit academic pediatric emergency departments (EDs) but rather visit community general EDs.3 Children who visit academic EDs differ from the larger population of children demographically, especially related to their access to, need for, and receipt of acute care. Because of these differences, epidemiological insights cannot always be generalized beyond the populations that academic centers serve. Large, population-based, administrative databases offer 1 solution to this problem. Administrative data are collected in the course of routine clinical operations and include claims, which are billing records. These databases do not typically contain clinical information and instead contain demographics, diagnoses, procedures, and billing information, such as charges. They therefore represent a blurrier but wider field of view than the narrow lens of academia-based investigation, thereby allowing more complete insight into diseases and outcomes. Furthermore, these databases eliminate the selection bias introduced by studying only children who present to academic hospitals, which often outweighs the advantages of prospective data collection. The main advantages of administrative data …

OBJECTIVES:Unlike community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), there is a paucity of data characterizing the patient demographics and hospitalization characteristics of children with aspiration pneumonia. We used a large national database of US children’s hospitals to assess the patient and hospitalization characteristics associated with aspiration pneumonia and compared these characteristics to patients with CAP.METHODS:We identified children hospitalized with a diagnosis of aspiration pneumonia or CAP at 47 hospitals included in the Pediatric Health Information System between 2009 and 2014. We evaluated whether differences exist in patient characteristics (median age and proportion of patients with a complex chronic condition), and hospital characteristics (length of stay, ICU admission, cost, and 30-day readmission rate) between children with aspiration pneumonia and CAP. Lastly, we assessed whether seasonal variability exists within these 2 conditions.RESULTS:Over the 6-year study period, there were 12 097 children hospitalized with aspiration pneumonia, and 121 489 with CAP. Compared with children with CAP, children with aspiration pneumonia were slightly younger and more likely to have an associated complex chronic condition. Those with aspiration pneumonia had longer hospitalizations, higher rates of ICU admission, and higher 30-day readmission rates. Additionally, the median cost for hospitalization was 2.4 times higher for children with aspiration pneumonia than for children with CAP. More seasonal variation was observed for CAP compared with aspiration pneumonia hospitalizations.CONCLUSIONS:Aspiration pneumonia preferentially affects children with medical complexity and, as such, accounts for longer and more costly hospitalizations and higher rates of ICU admission and readmission rates.