TY - JOUR
T1 - Poverty and Excess Length of Hospital Stay in Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome
AU - Vesoulis, Zachary A.
AU - Lust, Christopher E.
AU - Cohlan, Barbara A.
AU - Liao, Steve M.
AU - Mathur, Amit M.
N1 - Funding Information:
From the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Newborn Medicine, Wash-ington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO (ZAV, CEL, BAC, SML, AMM). Received for publication January 10, 2019; accepted March 11, 2019. Funding: This work was supported by the following grants: Washington University Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences KL2 Training Program (NIH/NCATS KL2 TR000450); the Barnes-Jewish Hospital Foundation and the Washington University Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences Clinical and Translational Funding Program (NIH/NCATS UL1 TR000448). The authors report no conflicts of interest. Send correspondence to: Zachary A. Vesoulis, MD, Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, 1 Children’s Place, St. Louis, MO 63110. E-mail: [email protected]. Copyright © 2019 American Society of Addiction Medicine ISSN: 1932-0620/19/1402-0113 DOI: 10.1097/ADM.0000000000000540
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2018 American Society of Addiction Medicine.
PY - 2020/3/1
Y1 - 2020/3/1
N2 - Objectives: To study the impact of sociodemographic factors on length of stay (LOS) for infants with neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome (NOWS) secondary to fetal opioid exposure. Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, we included term infants with NOWS, excluding those with other significant medical issues. Comprehensive clinical and sociodemographic data were collected. Multivariate regression modeling was used to identify factors which contributed to excess LOS, which was defined as the number of days beyond the standard monitoring and/or treatment protocol. Results: In all, 129 infants were identified; mean gestational age of 37.9±1.3weeks and mean body weight of 2880±496 g. Among them, 68% of infants were exposed to opioids; 27% were exposed to methadone; and 67%required pharmacologic treatment.The degree of poverty was assessed using the Area Deprivation Index (ADI) based on the mother's address at the time of birth. MedianLOS for treated infantswas 23 days versus 8 days for those who did not need pharmacologic treatment. The median excess LOS was 4 days (range 0-24). Excess hospital days were strongly correlated with degree of deprivation in the mother's community (r=0.55, P<0.01). ADI remained a strong predictor of excess LOS, even when controlling for pharmacologic treatment, placement in state's custody, race, and gestational age at birth. Conclusions: These results suggest poverty is associated with excess LOS and that early allocation of resources for at-risk families may help to reduce overall length of hospital stay.
AB - Objectives: To study the impact of sociodemographic factors on length of stay (LOS) for infants with neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome (NOWS) secondary to fetal opioid exposure. Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, we included term infants with NOWS, excluding those with other significant medical issues. Comprehensive clinical and sociodemographic data were collected. Multivariate regression modeling was used to identify factors which contributed to excess LOS, which was defined as the number of days beyond the standard monitoring and/or treatment protocol. Results: In all, 129 infants were identified; mean gestational age of 37.9±1.3weeks and mean body weight of 2880±496 g. Among them, 68% of infants were exposed to opioids; 27% were exposed to methadone; and 67%required pharmacologic treatment.The degree of poverty was assessed using the Area Deprivation Index (ADI) based on the mother's address at the time of birth. MedianLOS for treated infantswas 23 days versus 8 days for those who did not need pharmacologic treatment. The median excess LOS was 4 days (range 0-24). Excess hospital days were strongly correlated with degree of deprivation in the mother's community (r=0.55, P<0.01). ADI remained a strong predictor of excess LOS, even when controlling for pharmacologic treatment, placement in state's custody, race, and gestational age at birth. Conclusions: These results suggest poverty is associated with excess LOS and that early allocation of resources for at-risk families may help to reduce overall length of hospital stay.
KW - Demographics
KW - Infants
KW - Length of stay
KW - Neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome
KW - Poverty
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85082394024&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1097/ADM.0000000000000540
DO - 10.1097/ADM.0000000000000540
M3 - Article
C2 - 31149915
AN - SCOPUS:85082394024
SN - 1932-0620
VL - 14
SP - 113
EP - 118
JO - Journal of Addiction Medicine
JF - Journal of Addiction Medicine
IS - 2
ER -