@article{bd12c3572852472ab220613fb073a476,
title = "Trends of paediatric head injury and acute care costs in Australia",
abstract = "Aim: Paediatric head injuries (PHI) are the most common cause of trauma-related emergency department (ED) presentations. This study sought to report the incidence of PHI in Australia, examine the temporal trends from 2014 to 2018 and estimate the patient and population-level acute care costs. Methods: Taking a public-sector health-care perspective, we applied direct and indirect hospital costs for PHI-related ED visits and acute admissions. All costs were inflated to 2018 Australian dollars ($). The patient-level analysis was performed with data from 17 841 children <18 years old enrolled in the prospective Australasian Paediatric Head Injury Study. Mechanisms of injury were characterised by the total and average acute care costs. The population-level data of PHI-related ED presentations were obtained from the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority. Age-standardised incidence rates (IR) and incidence rate ratios (IRR) were calculated, and negative binomial regression examined the temporal trend. Results: The age-standardised IR for PHI was 2734 per 100 000 population in 2018, with a significant increase over 5 years (IRR 1.13, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.12–1.14; P < 0.001) and acute care costs of $154 million. Falls occurred in 70% of the study cohort, with average costs per episode of $666 (95% CI: $627–$706), accounting for 47% of acute care costs. Transportation-related injuries occurred in 4.1% of the study cohort, with average costs per episode of $8555 (95% CI: $6193–$10 917), accounting for 35% of acute care costs. Conclusion: PHI have increased significantly in Australia and are associated with substantial acute care costs. Population-based efforts are required for road safety and injury prevention.",
keywords = "Australia, Craniocerebral Trauma, emergency medicine, Hospital Costs",
author = "Sonia Singh and Babl, {Franz E.} and Hearps, {Stephen J.C.} and Hoch, {Jeffrey S.} and Kim Dalziel and Cheek, {John A.}",
note = "Funding Information: We thank the participating families and emergency department staff at participating sites. We thank Meredith L. Borland (Perth Children's Hospital, Perth, WA); Stuart R. Dalziel (Starship Children's Health, Auckland, New Zealand and Departments of Surgery and Paediatrics: Child and Youth Health, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand); Ed Oakley (Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, VIC); Amit Kochar (Women's & Children's Hospital, Adelaide, SA); Natalie Phillips and Yuri Gilhotra (Queensland Children's Hospital, Brisbane, QLD); Sarah Dalton and Mary McCaskill (The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, NSW); Jeremy Furyk (The Townsville Hospital, Townsville, QLD); Jocelyn Neutze (Kidzfirst Middlemore Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand); Mark Lyttle (Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, Bristol, UK and Academic Department of Emergency Care, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK); Silvia Bressan (Department of Women's and Children's Health, University of Padova, Padova, Italy); and Louise Crowe (Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, VIC) for their involvement with obtaining the data and prior data analysis. Finally, we thank the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority of Australia for providing the annual data on paediatric head injuries‐related emergency department visits in Australia. The work was supported by grants from the National Health and Medical Research Council (project grant GNT1046727, Centre of Research Excellence for Paediatric Emergency Medicine GNT1058560), Canberra, Australia; the Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia; the Emergency Medicine Foundation (EMPJ‐11162), Brisbane, Australia; Perpetual Philanthropic Services (2012/1140), Australia; Auckland Medical Research Foundation (No. 3112011) and the A + Trust (Auckland District Health Board), Auckland, New Zealand; WA Health Targeted Research Funds 2013, Perth, Australia; the Townsville Hospital and Health Service Private Practice Research and Education Trust Fund, Townsville, Australia; and supported by the Victorian Government's Infrastructure Support Program, Melbourne, Australia. S Singh was supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship, and a PREDICT CRE Research Higher Degree scholarship. FE Babl's time was partly funded by a grant from the Royal Children's Hospital Foundation and the Melbourne Campus Clinician Scientist Fellowship, Melbourne, Australia, and an NHMRC Practitioner Fellowship, Canberra, Australia. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 Paediatrics and Child Health Division (The Royal Australasian College of Physicians).",
year = "2021",
doi = "10.1111/jpc.15699",
language = "English (US)",
journal = "Australian Paediatric Journal",
issn = "1034-4810",
publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell",
}