Comparison of Transferred Versus Nontransferred Pediatric Patients Admitted for Sepsis.

OBJECTIVE: Little is known about the characteristics of pediatric patients transferred for medical care. Thus, we aimed to compare pediatric patients admitted for sepsis as transfers versus those who were not admitted as transfers.

METHODS: Retrospective study using The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality 2009 Kids' Inpatient Database. Inclusion diagnosis of sepsis based on an All Patient Refined Diagnosis-Related Group of 720: Septicemia & Disseminated Infections resulted in 16,894 patients. Transfer status was based on admission codes. Weighted statistical analysis was conducted using STATA 12.1 (Stata Corporation, College Station, TX). Institutional review board approval was obtained.

RESULTS: Weighted analysis found significant differences between transferred versus nontransferred patients in the following areas: highest severity of illness subclass (45.1% vs. 18.7%, P < .001), number of chronic conditions (2.0 vs. 1.5, P < .001), teaching hospital status (85.9% vs. 54.8%, P < .001), length of stay (10.8 vs. 6.5, p<.001), number of procedures (2.9 vs. 1.4, P < .001), mortality (8.4% vs. 3.2%, P < .001), total costs ($30,626 vs. $13,677, P < .001), and daily costs ($2,901 vs. $1,887, P < .001).

CONCLUSION: Our study found that patients diagnosed with sepsis and transferred are more severely ill with a higher number of chronic conditions, longer lengths of stay, more procedures performed, higher mortality, and higher total and daily costs.