Group items tagged

," based on census measures of poverty, home values and number of adults with high school degrees, also can help hospitals identify families likely to report financial or psychological hardship

linked to adverse asthma outcomes

Andrew Beck, MD

incinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

geocoded home addresses (grouping households by geographic area)

social risk index from assigned census tract regions.

extreme poverty rates, median home values and high school graduation rates

601 children hospitalized for asthma were evaluated and placed in one of three categories, or risk strata: low, medium or high risk.

39 percent of all patients were rehospitalized or returned to the emergency room within 12 months.

high risk category were 80 percent more likely to be rehospitalized or revisit the emergency room.

high-risk children had caregivers who were five times more likely to report two or more financial hardships

three times more likely to report psychological distress

medium-risk category were 30 percent more likely to be readmitted or return to the emergency room.

The links between socioeconomic disparities and childhood asthma are well-established. Poor, urban and minority children are at the highest risk for emergency room treatment and hospital admission

do little to account for how socioeconomic disparities affect asthma.

help to target and use scarce and overburdened hospital and community resources more efficiently.

, they want to assess whether the introduction of geographic data into clinical care leads to more in-depth and reliable triage of patients.

data helps link hospital- or community-based care to those patients most likely to benefit from it.

families likely to report financial or psychological hardship – both of which are linked to adverse asthma outcomes, says Andrew Beck, MD

t Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and lead author of the study.

could include enhanced care coordination, community health workers or help with better housing

Robert Kahn, MD,

help identify children admitted to the hospital with asthma who may need more aggressive, targeted assessments and/or interventions may prevent asthma attacks and reduce disparities,

increasing our ability to know a child’s likelihood of returning to the hospital

enhanced clinical care pathway right at the start of an admission.

readmissions is increasingly critical in the era of healthcare reform.”

(grouping households by geographic area

constructed the social risk index

assigned census tract regions

extreme poverty rates, median home values and high school graduation rate

601 children hospitalized for asthma were evaluated and placed in one of three categories, or risk strata: low, medium or high risk.

39 percent of all patients were rehospitalized or returned to the emergency room within 12 months.

low geographic risk, children in the high risk category were 80 percent more likely to be rehospitalized or revisit the emergency room

high-risk children had caregivers who were five times more likely to report two or more financial hardships in their households and three times more likely to report psychological distress.

medium-risk category were 30 percent more likely to be readmitted or return to the emergency room

. Poor, urban and minority children are at the highest risk for emergency room treatment and hospital admission

identification of children at increased risk could allow additional assessments and services to be put in place prior to discharge to improve patient outcomes

target and use scarce and overburdened hospital and community resources more efficiently.”

e to use the geographic social risk index to study other asthma outcomes and other conditions, such as diabetes mellitus.

introduction of geographic data into clinical care leads to more in-depth and reliable triage of patients.

helps link hospital- or community-based care to those patients most likely to benefit from it.

project

LEAR (

KIND (Keeping Infants Nourished and Developing) program