(Press-News.org) ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Despite significant technological improvements, children reliant on long-term mechanical ventilation often require extensive additional care, including costly hospital stays and emergency visits.
A new study led by University of Michigan researchers found that children with complex chronic conditions who require long-term mechanical ventilation have significantly higher mortality, longer length of hospitalizations, higher mean charges, and more emergency department admissions.
The results of this study, led by Brian D. Benneyworth, M.D., M.S., Pediatric Critical Care and Health Service Research Fellow with the Child Health Evaluation and Research (CHEAR) unit at the U-M Medical School, are available now online in the journal Pediatrics.
The study found that the length of initial hospitalizations for children requiring long term mechanical ventilation remained the same between 2000 and 2006, but total admissions (for these children) were up 55%.
Until now, researchers were unclear as to how often this technology was used and how often children requiring long-term mechanical ventilation were admitted for additional care. In an effort to improve patient care and anticipate continued growth in this group of patients, U-M researchers analyzed trends in relevant discharges nationally between 2000 and 2006.
Pediatricians use long-term mechanical ventilation technology to treat lung failure in children with various complex chronic conditions such as muscular dystrophy and premature birth. These ventilation systems are preferred, because they can be used at home.
The study, which analyzed all hospitalizations for children 0-20 years of age requiring long term mechanical ventilation, also found that infants and young children consume the highest proportion of health care resources for this particular demographic.
"Infants less than one year old made up 25% of the population, but used about 50% of the healthcare resources for all the children requiring long-term medical ventilation," says Benneyworth, who also treats patients at the U-M C.S. Mott Children's Hospital. "This means that there may be tremendous opportunities to improve the care that these young children receive."
The study also finds that infants have the longest length of hospitalization and the highest in-hospital mortality rates which may be important goals for additional research.
"Programs in many hospitals have been working to improve the discharge process and home care resources available to these children," says Benneyworth. "But these young children, with their long and expensive hospital stays, have different needs that we should identify."
The study showed a 55% growth in additional hospitalizations for children needing long-term mechanical ventilation support and a 70% increase in subsequent health care cost. Analysis also shows that in the final years of the study, the demand for additional care was greatest in patients between one and four years of age.
Most notably, infants less than a year old make up a small part of the total population, but also used about half of the total healthcare resources, demonstrating an opportunity for continued optimization in the care of young children requiring long-term mechanical ventilation.
###
Additional authors: Achamyeleh Gebremariam, M.S., Sarah J. Clark, M.P.H., Thomas P. Shanley, M.D., Matthew M. Davis, M.D., M.A.P.P.
Funding: Funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Disclosures: None
Citation: DOI: 10.1542 / Peds: 2010-2026
The University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital is consistently ranked as one of the best hospitals in the country. It was nationally ranked in all ten pediatric specialties in the U.S. News Media Group's 2011 edition of "America's Best Children's Hospitals" including third in the country for heart and heart surgery. In November, the hospital moves to a new 1.1 million square feet, $754 million state-of-the-art facility that will be home to cutting-edge specialty services for newborns, children and women.
Written by Lauren McLeod
U-M study: Kids dependent on long-term ventilation require longer, more expensive hospital care
Many opportunities for improvement exist in the care of this group of children
2011-05-24
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
AV RingtoneMAX: Brand-New Free Ringtone Maker from Audio4fun.com
2011-05-24
Today announced the launch of the new freeware AV RingtoneMAX, a free software program which helps users quickly create a new ringtone. Whatever it is: a song, a piece of music, a speech in a movie, or a fun clip, a funny sound, or even a human voice or any audio file, all can be used to create a new and unique ringtone. Download the program at http://mp3-player.audio4fun.com/ringtone-maker-download.htm.
With AV RingtoneMAX, it only takes 3 steps to make a new ringtone. First the user selects any audio clip, or specifies the track that they want to use to make the ringtone; ...
Medicare improved Canadian doctors' salaries: Queen's University study
2011-05-24
U.S. doctors might find that their incomes start to rise – not decline – when Barack Obama's healthcare reforms are put in place says a Queen's University School of Medicine professor.
"The medical-income argument in the United States against moving toward a Canadian-style system is feeble," says Jacalyn Duffin, a medical doctor who specializes in the history of medicine. "Physicians' incomes grew more quickly than those of other Canadian professions following Medicare. The universal, single-payer system has been good not only for Canadians but also for Canada's doctors."
Dr. ...
Bipolar disorder: Mind-body connection suggests new directions for treatment, research
2011-05-24
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- A new study by motor control and psychology researchers at Indiana University suggests that postural control problems may be a core feature of bipolar disorder, not just a random symptom, and can provide insights both into areas of the brain affected by the psychiatric disorder and new potential targets for treatment.
Problems with balance, postural control and other motor control issues are frequently experienced by people with mood and psychiatric disorders such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and neurological disorders such as Huntington's ...
Feuding helium dwarfs exposed by eclipse
2011-05-24
Researchers at the University of Warwick have found a unique feuding double white dwarf star system where each star appears to have been stripped down to just its helium.
We know of just over 50 close double white dwarfs but this was only the second ever eclipsing close white dwarf pair to be found. The University of Warwick astronomers Steven Parsons and Professor Tom Marsh were able to use the fact that the stars eclipse each other when seen from Earth to make particularly detailed observations of the system.
Those observations revealed that uniquely both the white ...
Beyond the barn: Keeping dairy cows outside is good for the outdoors
2011-05-24
This release is available in Spanish.
Computer simulation studies by scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) suggests that a dairy cow living year-round in the great outdoors may leave a markedly smaller ecological hoofprint than its more sheltered sisters.
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) agricultural engineer Al Rotz led a team that evaluated how different management systems on a typical 250-acre Pennsylvania dairy farm would affect the environment. ARS is USDA's chief intramural scientific research agency, and this work supports the USDA commitment ...
Earth: Waves of disaster: Lessons from Japan and New Zealand
2011-05-24
Alexandria, VA – On Feb. 22, a magnitude-6.1 earthquake struck Christchurch, New Zealand, killing nearly 200 people and causing $12 billion in damage. About three weeks later, a massive magnitude-9.0 earthquake struck northern Honshu, Japan. The quake and tsunami killed about 30,000 people and caused an estimated $310 billion in damage. Both events are stark reminders of human vulnerability to natural disasters and provide a harsh reality check: Even technologically advanced countries with modern building codes are not immune from earthquake disasters.
Both events also ...
Premier Simpsonville Hotel Offers Accommodations to Attendees of Freedom Aloft Weekend
2011-05-24
Holiday Inn Express Simpsonville Hotel offers attendees of Freedom Aloft Weekend convenient lodging accommodations. The event will take place Memorial Weekend, May 27-30, at Simpsonville, South Carolina's Heritage Park. Holiday Inn Express is an official sponsor of the event, and the venue is only a mile from this hotel in Simpsonville.
The popular hot air balloon festival has been a tradition in the South Carolina Upstate for 29 years. Seventy to eighty colorful balloons will fill the skies over Simpsonville. Attendees can book a balloon flight, take a tethered ride, ...
Crime Victims' Institute studies adolescent sex and laws
2011-05-24
HUNTVILLE, TX -- While statutory rape laws have been enacted to protect minors from sexual abuse by adults or peers, more teenagers are engaging in sexual activity before the legal age of consent and are facing sexual assault charges.
A recent study by the Crime Victims' Institute at Sam Houston State University examines various state laws that have been adopted to address the growing problem and suggests ways to address the dilemmas caused by the laws that are written.
"It is becoming increasingly clear that some teenagers engage in sexual activity even before they ...
PET scans predict effectiveness of treatment for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in HIV patients
2011-05-24
Reston, Va. –With the deficiencies in knowledge of tuberculosis—as well as in the practices, programs and strategies used to combat the disease and co-infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)—the spread of multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis poses a major problem for the health care community. Research in the June issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine, however, shows that the use of 18F-FDG positron emission tomography (PET) scans can help to determine earlier if treatment for tuberculosis is working or if the disease is MDR.
Tuberculosis and HIV have been ...
Studies show no meaningful difference between high fructose corn syrup and sucrose
2011-05-24
WASHINGTON – A comprehensive review of research focusing on the debate between High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) and other sweeteners presented today finds there is no evidence of any significant variation in the way the human body metabolizes HFCS as opposed to standard table sugar, or any difference in impact on risk factors for chronic disease.
James M. Rippe, MD, founder and director of the Rippe Lifestyle Institute and professor of biomedical sciences at the University of Central Florida, presented a summary of recent research entitled -- "High Fructose Corn Syrup, ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Breaking free from dependence on rare resources! A domestic high-performance permanent magnet emerges!
Symptoms of long-COVID can last up to two years after infection with COVID-19
Violence is forcing women in Northern Ireland into homelessness, finds new report
Latin American intensivists denounce economic and cultural inequities in the global scientific publishing system
Older adults might be more resistant to bird flu infections than children, Penn research finds
Dramatic increase in research funding needed to counter productivity slowdown in farming
How chemistry and force etch mysterious spiral patterns on solid surfaces
Unraveling the mysteries of polycystic kidney disease
Mother’s high-fat diet can cause liver stress in fetus, study shows
Weighing in on a Mars water debate
Researchers ‘seq’ and find a way to make pig retinal cells to advance eye treatments
Re-purposed FDA-approved drug could help treat high-grade glioma
Understanding gamma rays in our universe through StarBurst
Study highlights noninvasive hearing aid
NASA taps UTA to shape future of autonomous aviation
Mutations disrupt touch-based learning, study finds
Misha lived in zoos, but the elephant’s tooth enamel helps reconstruct wildlife migrations
Eat better, breathe easier? Research points to link between diet, lung cancer
Mesozoic mammals had uniform dark fur
Wartime destruction of Kakhovka Dam in Ukraine has long-term environmental consequences
NIH’s flat 15% funding policy is misguided and damaging
AI reveals new insights into the flow of Antarctic ice
Scientists solve decades-long Parkinson’s mystery
Spinning, twisted light could power next-generation electronics
A planetary boundary for geological resources: Limits of regional water availability
Astronomy’s dirty window to space
New study reveals young, active patients who have total knee replacements are unlikely to need revision surgery in their lifetime
Thinking outside the box: Uncovering a novel approach to brainwave monitoring
Combination immunotherapy before surgery may increase survival in people with head and neck cancer
MIT engineers turn skin cells directly into neurons for cell therapy
[Press-News.org] U-M study: Kids dependent on long-term ventilation require longer, more expensive hospital careMany opportunities for improvement exist in the care of this group of children