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- Access to Care (1)
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AHRQ Research Studies
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Research Studies is a compilation of published research articles funded by AHRQ or authored by AHRQ researchers.
Results
1 to 6 of 6 Research Studies DisplayedMeille G, Decker SL, Owens PL
AHRQ Author: Meille G, Decker SL, Owens PL
COVID-19 admission rates and changes in US hospital inpatient and intensive care unit occupancy.
The objective of this cross-sectional study was to measure the relationship between COVID-19 admission rates and hospital occupancy in different US areas at different time periods during 2020. Data were taken from the HCUP State Inpatient Databases for patients in nonfederal acute care hospitals. The results showed that hospital occupancy decreased during weeks with low COVID-19 admissions and increased during weeks with high COVID-19 admissions; the largest changes occurred early in the pandemic. The authors concluded that their findings suggest that COVID-19 surges strained intensive care unit capacity and were associated with decreases in the number of surgical patients. These occupancy fluctuations may have affected quality of care and hospital finances.
AHRQ-authored.
Citation: Meille G, Decker SL, Owens PL .
COVID-19 admission rates and changes in US hospital inpatient and intensive care unit occupancy.
JAMA Health Forum 2023 Dec; 4(12):e234206. doi: 10.1001/jamahealthforum.2023.4206..
Keywords: COVID-19, Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), Hospitalization, Hospitals
Fingar KR, Weiss AJ, Roemer M
AHRQ Author: Roemer M, Reid LD
Effects of the COVID-19 early pandemic on delivery outcomes among women with and without COVID-19 at birth.
This AHRQ-authored paper examined the early pandemic-related changes in birth outcomes for pregnant women with and without a COVID-19 diagnosis at delivery. They compared four delivery outcomes-preterm delivery (PTD), severe maternal morbidity (SMM), stillbirth, and cesarean birth-between 2017 and 2019 (prepandemic) and between April and December 2020 (early pandemic) using interrupted time series models on 11.8 million deliveries, stratified by COVID-19 infection status at birth with entropy weighting for historical controls, from the HCUP across 43 states and the District of Columbia. Relative to 2017-2019, women without COVID-19 at delivery in 2020 had lower odds of PTD (OR = 0.93) and SMM (OR = 0.88) but increased odds of stillbirth (OR = 1.04). COVID-19 deliveries had an excess of each outcome, by factors of 1.07-1.46 for outcomes except SMM at 4.21. The effect for SMM was more pronounced for Asian/Pacific Islander non-Hispanic (API; OR = 10.51) and Hispanic (OR = 5.09) pregnant women than for White non-Hispanic (OR = 3.28) women.
AHRQ-authored; AHRQ-funded; 290201800001C.
Citation: Fingar KR, Weiss AJ, Roemer M .
Effects of the COVID-19 early pandemic on delivery outcomes among women with and without COVID-19 at birth.
Birth 2023 Dec; 50(4):996-1008. doi: 10.1111/birt.12753..
Keywords: Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), COVID-19, Maternal Care, Women, Outcomes
Encinosa W, Moon K, Figueroa J
AHRQ Author: Encinosa W
Complications, adverse drug events, high costs, and disparities in multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children vs COVID-19.
This cross-sectional study’s goal was to determine outcomes from multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) after COVID-19. Outcomes examined were 50 complications, adverse medication events, costs, and the Social Vulnerability Index. An analysis was conducted using data from the 2021 HCUP in individuals younger than 21 years from 31 states. There were 4107 individuals hospitalized with MIS-C (median age 9 years, 59.5% male, 38.1% White) and 23,686 hospitalizations for COVID-19 without MIS-C (median age 15 years, 54.5% female, 44.1% White). Hospitalization rate for MIS-C was 1.48 per 100,000 children, ranging from 0.97 hospitalizations per 100 for White and 1.99 hospitalizations per 100 for Black children. Outcomes were worse when organ dysfunction increased from 2 to 8 organs, with deaths increasing from less than 1% to 5.8% for MIS-C, and 1% to 17.2% for COVID-19. Median length of stay increased from 4 to 8 days for MIS-C, and 3 to 16 days for COVID-19. Median costs for MIS-C increased from $16,225 to $53 359 and from $6474 to $98,643 for COVID-19. The percentage of MIS-C cases in Black children doubled from 16.2% to 31.7% as organ dysfunction increased, remaining unchanged with COVID-19.
AHRQ-authored.
Citation: Encinosa W, Moon K, Figueroa J .
Complications, adverse drug events, high costs, and disparities in multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children vs COVID-19.
JAMA Netw Open 2023 Jan;6(1):e2244975. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.44975..
Keywords: Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), Children/Adolescents, COVID-19, Medication, Adverse Drug Events (ADE), Adverse Events, Healthcare Costs, Disparities, Racial and Ethnic Minorities
Encinosa W, Figueroa J, Elias Y
AHRQ Author: Encinosa W
Severity of hospitalizations from SARS-CoV-2 vs influenza and respiratory syncytial virus infection in children aged 5 to 11 years in 11 US states.
By the time emergency use authorization had been granted for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in October 2021 in children aged 5 to 11 years, there had been 1.8 million diagnoses of SARS-CoV-2 infection, 8,000 hospitalizations, and 143 deaths in that age group. Very little has been reported on the severity of those hospitalizations relative to the influenza virus and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) which are the most common childhood viruses. The purpose of this study was to compare hospitalizations of children aged 5 to 11 for SARS-CoV-2 infection and multisystem inflammatory system in children (MIS-C, a sequela of COVID-19 disease) with the hospitalizations of children aged 5 to 11 years who were infected with influenza and RSV. The researchers utilized inpatient data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project from the first 11 states with complete first-quarter data as of October 2021, representing 24% of the US population of children aged 5 to 11 years. The researchers examined 46 complications in 7 body systems, total care costs and charges, and data on race and ethnicity. The resulting cross-sectional study included patient data from a total of 2,269 children. The study found that COVID-19 hospitalizations occurred at the rate of 10.8 per 100,000 children, while Influenza and RSV were rare during the first quarter of 2021 with 23 total hospital discharges combined. However, in 2017, which researchers also measured for data on influenza and RSV, influenza and RSV had 17.0 and 6.2 hospitalizations per 100,000 children, respectively. Inpatient death for all viruses was rare. MIS-C had the highest rates of cardiovascular, hematologic, and gastrointestinal complications. Children with RSV ha the highest rate of respiratory complications. Children with COVID-19 (without MISC-C) had the highest rate of neurologic complications, whereas children with influenza had the highest rate of muscoskeletal complications. Children with MIS-C had the longest median length of stay at a median cost of $23,585 per stay compared to children with influenza with a median length of stay of 2 days and a cost of $5,200.
AHRQ-authored.
Citation: Encinosa W, Figueroa J, Elias Y .
Severity of hospitalizations from SARS-CoV-2 vs influenza and respiratory syncytial virus infection in children aged 5 to 11 years in 11 US states.
JAMA Pediatr 2022 May;176(5):520-22. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.6566..
Keywords: Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), COVID-19, Children/Adolescents, Hospitalization, Influenza, Respiratory Conditions
Martin BI, Brodke DS, Wilson FA
The impact of halting elective admissions in anticipation of a demand surge due to the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19).
This study’s objective was to estimate excess demand for hospital beds due to COVID-19 and the net financial impact of eliminating elective admissions to meet demand. An economic simulation was conducted combining epidemiological reports, the US Census, American Hospital Association Annual Survey, and the National Inpatient Sample. The base case used relied on a hospital admission rate reported by the CDC of 137.6 per 100,000, with the highest rates in people aged 65 year and older and 50-64 years. Elective admissions accounted for 20% of total hospital admissions, with an average rate of 30% unoccupied beds across hospitals. Hospitals that restricted elective care due to a COVID surge was only financial favorable if capacity was filled by a high proportion of COVID-19 cases among hospitals with low rates of elective admissions. There is a substantial financial risk to hospitals that restrict elective care.
AHRQ-funded; HS024714.
Citation: Martin BI, Brodke DS, Wilson FA .
The impact of halting elective admissions in anticipation of a demand surge due to the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19).
Med Care 2021 Mar;59(3):213-19. doi: 10.1097/mlr.0000000000001496..
Keywords: Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), COVID-19, Hospitals, Healthcare Costs, Access to Care, Public Health
Bartsch SM, Ferguson MC, McKinnell JA
The potential health care costs and resource use associated with COVID-19 in the United States.
The authors developed a Monte Carlo simulation model representing the U.S. Population and what can happen to every person who gets infected with COVID-19. The goal was to estimate resource use and direct medical costs per infection at the national level at different infection rates. They found that a single symptomatic COVID-19 infection would cost a median of $3,045 in direct medical costs. If 80% of the population got infected it would cost $654.0 billion in direct costs during the course of the pandemic. If 20% were to become infected, direct costs are estimated at $163.4 billion.
AHRQ-funded; HS023317.
Citation: Bartsch SM, Ferguson MC, McKinnell JA .
The potential health care costs and resource use associated with COVID-19 in the United States.
Health Aff 2020 Jun;39(6):927-35. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2020.00426..
Keywords: Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), Healthcare Costs, COVID-19, Healthcare Utilization