TY - JOUR
T1 - Healthcare costs of acute and chronic tonsillar conditions in the pediatric population in the United States
AU - Duarte, Victor M.
AU - McGrath, Caitlin L.
AU - Shapiro, Nina L.
AU - Bhattacharrya, Neil
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd.
PY - 2015/6/1
Y1 - 2015/6/1
N2 - Objective: To determine the prevalence and healthcare costs associated with the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic tonsillar conditions (ACT) in children. Design: Cross-sectional analysis of the 2006, 2008, and 2010 Medical Expenditure Panel Surveys. Methods: Pediatric patients (age. <. 18 years) were examined from the above mentioned database. From the linked medical conditions file, cases with a diagnosis of ACT were extracted. Ambulatory visit rates, prescription refills, and ambulatory healthcare costs were then compared between children with and without a diagnosis of ACT and acute versus chronic tonsillitis, with multivariate adjustment for age, sex, ethnicity, region, insurance coverage and comorbid conditions (e.g., asthma and otitis media). Results: A total of 74.3 million children (mean age 8.55 years, 51% male) were sampled (raw N=. 28,873). Of these, 804,229 children (1.1. ±. 0.1%) were diagnosed with ACT annually (mean age 7.24 years, 49.1% male); 64.6. ±. 2.0% had acute tonsillitis diagnoses and 35.4. ±. 2.0% suffered from chronic tonsillitis. Children with ACT incurred an additional 2.3 office visits and 2.1 prescription fills (both p<0.001) annually compared with those without ACT, adjusting for demographic variables and medical comorbidities, but did not have an increase in emergency department visits (. p=. 0.123). Children with acute tonsillar diagnoses carried total healthcare expenditures of $1303. ±. 390 annually versus $2401. ±. 618 for those with chronic tonsillitis (. p=. 0.193). ACT was associated with an incremental increase in total healthcare expense of $1685 per child, annually (. p<0.001). Conclusion: The diagnosis of ACT confers a significant incremental healthcare utilization and healthcare cost burden on children, parents and the healthcare system. With its prevalence in the United States, pediatric tonsillitis accounts for approximately $1.355 billion in incremental healthcare expense and is a significant healthcare utilization concern. Level of evidence: 2C.
AB - Objective: To determine the prevalence and healthcare costs associated with the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic tonsillar conditions (ACT) in children. Design: Cross-sectional analysis of the 2006, 2008, and 2010 Medical Expenditure Panel Surveys. Methods: Pediatric patients (age. <. 18 years) were examined from the above mentioned database. From the linked medical conditions file, cases with a diagnosis of ACT were extracted. Ambulatory visit rates, prescription refills, and ambulatory healthcare costs were then compared between children with and without a diagnosis of ACT and acute versus chronic tonsillitis, with multivariate adjustment for age, sex, ethnicity, region, insurance coverage and comorbid conditions (e.g., asthma and otitis media). Results: A total of 74.3 million children (mean age 8.55 years, 51% male) were sampled (raw N=. 28,873). Of these, 804,229 children (1.1. ±. 0.1%) were diagnosed with ACT annually (mean age 7.24 years, 49.1% male); 64.6. ±. 2.0% had acute tonsillitis diagnoses and 35.4. ±. 2.0% suffered from chronic tonsillitis. Children with ACT incurred an additional 2.3 office visits and 2.1 prescription fills (both p<0.001) annually compared with those without ACT, adjusting for demographic variables and medical comorbidities, but did not have an increase in emergency department visits (. p=. 0.123). Children with acute tonsillar diagnoses carried total healthcare expenditures of $1303. ±. 390 annually versus $2401. ±. 618 for those with chronic tonsillitis (. p=. 0.193). ACT was associated with an incremental increase in total healthcare expense of $1685 per child, annually (. p<0.001). Conclusion: The diagnosis of ACT confers a significant incremental healthcare utilization and healthcare cost burden on children, parents and the healthcare system. With its prevalence in the United States, pediatric tonsillitis accounts for approximately $1.355 billion in incremental healthcare expense and is a significant healthcare utilization concern. Level of evidence: 2C.
KW - Acute and chronic tonsillitis
KW - Children
KW - Health care expenditures
KW - Health care utilization
KW - Incremental analysis
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84929049741
U2 - 10.1016/j.ijporl.2015.04.019
DO - 10.1016/j.ijporl.2015.04.019
M3 - Article
C2 - 25912631
AN - SCOPUS:84929049741
SN - 0165-5876
VL - 79
SP - 921
EP - 925
JO - International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology
JF - International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology
IS - 6
ER -