Journal of Pediatric Surgery
Volume 44, Issue 10 , Pages 1952-1957 , October 2009

Lack of insurance negatively affects trauma mortality in US children

  • Heather Rosen

      Affiliations

    • Children’s Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School, Department of Plastic and Oral Surgery, Boston, MA, USA
    • Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Center for Surgery and Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
    • Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California and Los Angeles County + University of Southern California Medical Center, Department of Surgery, Los Angeles, CA, USA
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Department of Plastic and Oral Surgery, Children's Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Tel.: +1 857 218 4673; fax: +1 617 730 0842.
    • ,
  • Fady Saleh

      Affiliations

    • Children’s Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School, Department of Plastic and Oral Surgery, Boston, MA, USA
    • Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Center for Surgery and Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
    • McMaster University, Department of Surgery, Division of General Surgery, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
    • ,
  • Stuart R. Lipsitz

      Affiliations

    • Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Center for Surgery and Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
    • ,
  • John G. Meara

      Affiliations

    • Children’s Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School, Department of Plastic and Oral Surgery, Boston, MA, USA
    • ,
  • Selwyn O. Rogers Jr.

      Affiliations

    • Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Center for Surgery and Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
    • Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Department of Surgery, Division of Burn, Trauma, and Critical Care, Boston, MA, USA

Received 7 November 2008 ,Revised 15 December 2008 ,Accepted 17 December 2008.

References 

  1. National center for health statistics . Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.. Cited February 19, 2008. Accessed at: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/deaths.htm
  2. Scientific data, surveillance, and injury statistics. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cited February 19, 2008. Accessed at: http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/osp/charts.htm
  3. The number of uninsured Americans is at an all-time high. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Cited February 19, 2008. Accessed at: http://www.cbpp.org/8-29-06health.htm
  4. Hambidge SJ, Emsermann CB, Federico S, et al. Disparities in pediatric preventive care in the united states, 1993-2002. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2007;161(1):30–36
  5. Brickhouse TH, Unkel JH, Porter AS, et al. Insurance status and untreated dental caries in Virginia schoolchildren. Pediatr Dent. 2007;29(6):493–499
  6. Simon TD, Riva-Cambrin J, Srivastava R, et al. Hospital care for children with hydrocephalus in the United States: utilization, charges, comorbidities, and deaths. J Neurosurg Pediatrics. 2008;1(2):131–137
  7. Committee on Trauma, American College of Surgeons . National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB), Version 7.0.. 2007;[Chicago (Ill). The content reproduced from the NTDB remains the full and exclusive copyrighted property of the American College of Surgeons. The American College of Surgeons is not responsible for any claims arising from works based on the original data, text, tables, or figures]
  8. MacKenzie EJ, Hoyt DB, Sacra JC, et al. National inventory of hospital trauma centers. JAMA. 2003;289(12):1515–1522
  9. Baker SP, O'Neill B, Haddon W, et al. The injury severity score: a method for describing patients with multiple injuries and evaluating emergency care. J Trauma. 1974;14(3):187–196
  10. Baker SP, O'Neill B. The injury severity score: an update. J Trauma. 1976;16(11):882–885
  11. Haider AH, Chang DC, Efron DT, et al. Race and insurance status as risk factors for trauma mortality. Arch Surg. 2008;143(10):945–949
  12. EMTALA (Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act). Cited February 19, 2008. Accessed at: http://www.emtala.com/faq.htm
  13. Sabharwal S, Zhao C, McClemens E, et al. Pediatric orthopaedic patients presenting to a university emergency department after visiting another emergency department: demographics and health insurance status. J Pediatr Orthop. 2007;27(6):690–694
  14. Koval KJ, Tingey CW, Spratt KF. Are patients being transferred to level-I trauma centers for reasons other than medical necessity. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2006;88(10):2124–2132
  15. White FA, French D, Zwemer FL, et al. Care without coverage: is there a relationship between insurance and ED care. J Emerg Med. 2007;32(2):159–165
  16. Baker DW, Parker RM, Williams MV, et al. The health care experience of patients with low literacy. Arch Fam Med. 1996;5(6):329–334
  17. Wallace LS, Cassada DC, Rogers ES, et al. Can screening items identify surgery patients at risk of limited health literacy. J Surg Res. 2007;140(2):208–213
  18. Linton JM, Feudtner C. What accounts for differences or disparities in pediatric palliative and end-of-life care? A systematic review focusing on possible multilevel mechanisms. Pediatrics. 2008;122(3):574–582
  19. Shafi S, Marquez de la Plata C, Diaz-Arrastia R, Shipman K, Carlile M, Frankel H, et al. Racial disparities in long-term functional outcome after traumatic brain injury. J Trauma. 2007;63(6):1263,8; discussion 1268-70.

PII: S0022-3468(08)01147-0

doi: 10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2008.12.026

Journal of Pediatric Surgery
Volume 44, Issue 10 , Pages 1952-1957 , October 2009

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