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Hospital Stays, Hospital Charges, and In-hospital Deaths Among Infants With Select Birth Defects

Researchers at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and CDC estimated average length of stay, average hospital charges, and rates of in-hospital deaths for selected birth defects.

Birth defects Birth defects are the leading causes of childhood hospitalizations, medical costs, and infant deaths.

This study looked at hospital stays during 2003 for newborns with any of 35 specific birth defects birth defects, chosen because they are likely to be diagnosed at birth or during the newborn’s first hospital stay. Also, the diagnoses likely indicate a permanent structural defect and not a problem related to preterm birth.

Data were from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project 2003 Kids' Inpatient Database (KID) from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. KID is a 10% sample of hospital discharges after uncomplicated births and an 80% sample of all other pediatric discharges from 36 states. Data are weighted to represent all childhood hospitalizations in the United States.

Important findings from this study include:

• Birth defects varied greatly for average length of stay, average hospital charges, and number of in-hospital deaths. For example,
  
  -Average length of stay was longest for infants with surgically repaired gastroschisis (41 days) or omphalocele (33 days). For eight other birth defects, the average stay was longer than 21 days. The average length of stay for births without defects was 2 days.
  -Average hospital charges were highest (nearly $200,000) for infants with hypoplastic left heart syndrome and common truncus arteriosus. Average charges for births without defects were $1,844.
  -Anencephaly, trisomy 13, and trisomy 18 caused the highest rates of in-hospital death. The largest total numbers of in-hospital deaths were among infants with diaphragmatic hernia, renal agenesis, and trisomy 18.
• The in-hospital death less than 3% for each of the five most common birth defects— hypospadias/epispadias, obstructive genitourinary defects, Down syndrome, cleft lip with or without cleft palate, and pulmonary valve stenosis. . All birth defects but pulmonary valve stenosis resulted in average hospital charges of less than $40,000.
• More studies are needed to compare outcomes for infants with single and multiple defects and to assess longer-term outcomes.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hospital stays, hospital charges, and in-hospital deaths among infants with selected birth defects—United States, 2003. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2007;56(2):25–9.

Date: January 14, 2008
Content source: National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities