Sociodemographic Differences of Hospitalization and Associations of Resource Utilization for Failure to Thrive

Objectives: This study examines the sociodemographic differences between elective and nonelective admissions for failure to thrive (FTT). We investigate associations between admission type and hospital resource utilization, including length of stay and feeding tube placement.

Methods: We included children <2 years old with FTT in the nationwide Kids' Inpatient Database. We described differences between elective and nonelective admissions using Fisher exact and t tests. To assess associations of admission type and hospital resource utilization, we used negative binomial and logistic regression for length of stay and feeding tube placement, respectively.

Results: In this study of 45,920 admissions (37,224 nonelective vs 8696 elective), we found differences by race and ethnicity, income, and insurance type, among other factors. Compared to elective admissions, nonelective admissions had higher proportions of infants who were Black, Hispanic, and of lower-income. Nonelective admissions were associated with longer lengths of stay (incidence rate ratio 1.46; 95% CI: 1.37-1.55), independent of child age, sex, neighborhood income, insurance, admission day, chronic conditions, and location. Nonelective admissions were associated with lower odds of feeding tube placement compared to elective admissions (adjusted odds ratio 0.62; 0.56-0.68). In the stratified analyses, children of racial and ethnic minority groups admitted nonelectively versus electively had relatively higher odds of feeding tube placement, while White children had relatively lower odds of feeding tube placement.

Conclusion: There are various sociodemographic differences between elective and nonelective FTT admissions. Future research is warranted to elucidate drivers of these differences, particularly those related to racial and ethnic disparities and structural racism.