Health outcomes in US children with abdominal pain at major emergency departments associated with race and socioeconomic status.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Over 9.6 million ED visits occur annually for abdominal pain in the US, but little is known about the medical outcomes of these patients based on demographics. We aimed to identify disparities in outcomes among children presenting to the ED with abdominal pain linked to race and SES.

Methods

Data from 4.2 million pediatric encounters of abdominal pain were analyzed from 43 tertiary US children's hospitals, including 2.0 million encounters in the emergency department during 2004-2011. Abdominal pain was categorized as functional or organic abdominal pain. Appendicitis (with and without perforation) was used as a surrogate for abdominal pain requiring emergent care. Multivariate analysis estimated likelihood of hospitalizations, radiologic imaging, ICU admissions, ap

SUBMITTER: Wang L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4534408 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature