2000 to 2022 Saw Rise in Hospital Resource Use for Children With Complex Chronic Conditions

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 10, 2025 (HealthDay News) -- From 2000 to 2022, children with complex chronic conditions (CCCs) had a substantial increase in hospital resource use, according to a study published online Dec. 2 in JAMA Network Open.Nathaniel D. Bayer, M.D., from Golisano Children’s Hospital in Rochester, New York, and colleagues assessed national trends in hospital discharges, bed days, and hospital charges for U.S. children (age 0 to 18 years) with and without CCCs. The analysis included hospital discharge data from the Kids’ Inpatient Database (2000, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2012, 2016, 2019, and 2022; approximately 26.3 million hospital discharges).The researchers found that from 2000 to 2022, the discharge rate increased by 24.3 percent, from 779 to 968 per 100,000 U.S. children with one or more CCCs. For children with no CCCs, the rate decreased by 9.7 percent, from 3,831 to 3,459. Over time, the percentage change in the hospital discharge rate varied by number of CCCs, with a 3.8 percent decrease for one CCC, a 60.9 percent increase for two CCCs, and a 340.0 percent increase for three or more CCCs. In 2022, children with at least one CCC accounted for more than two-fifths of pediatric bed days and nearly three-fifths of hospital charges. The percentage of hospital discharges in children with one or more CCCs increased for gastroenterological technology dependence (7.0 to 14.4 percent), neurodevelopmental or neurocognitive disorders (5.7 to 13.5 percent), and public insurance (40.9 to 52.1 percent)."Over the last 20 years, the inpatient pediatric caseload has shifted [and] the children we see in the hospital are far more complex," Bayer said in a statement. "That concentration of very sick children has real implications for where care happens, who delivers it, and how it is paid for."Abstract/Full Text.Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter

2000 to 2022 Saw Rise in Hospital Resource Use for Children With Complex Chronic Conditions

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