Lower-income status tied to longer hospital stays in children with lupus
A study published in Arthritis Care & Research by William Daniel Soulsby concluded that income level predicts longer hospital stays for pediatric lupus in the lowest income group. They also mentioned that Black patients and those with public insurance were more likely to exhibit severe disease.
Explaining the study background, they explained that health disparities in adult lupus, including higher disease severity and activity among those in poverty, have been identified. There needs to be more data on similar associations in pediatric lupus.
Researchers in the present study investigated the relationship between income level and other socioeconomic factors with a length of stay (LOS) in the hospital and severe lupus features using KID the 2016 Kids’ Inpatient Database (KID) in children aged 2-20 years.
The study results are:
- The team identified a total of 3,367 unweighted lupus hospitalizations.
- Income level was a significant predictor of increased LOS in the hospital for those in the lowest income group.
- There was an association between the Black race, the “other” race, and public insurance with severe lupus features.
Concluding further, based on insights obtained from the nationally representative data set, income level was a statistically significant predictor of LOS in the hospital among those with the lowest reported income. This is suggested to be a potential target population for intervention.
They mentioned, “Black race and public insurance is associated with severe lupus features.”
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