Learning Objective #1: describe the impact of pediatric gastroenteritis hospitalizations in Florida.

Learning Objective #2: describe the characteristic of children hospitalized for gastroenteritis, their hospital stays and county characteristics.

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Background: Gastroenteritis is a leading cause of illness and death in children worldwide. Although, child deaths from gastroenteritis are relatively rare in the United States, it is still a significant source of illness in children, especially the very young. Hospitalizations of children with gastroenteritis are potentially avoidable with appropriate and timely primary care and admission rates are used as an indicator of the quality of primary care in a community. Historically, pediatric gastroenteritis admission rates have been higher in Florida than in the South and the nation. Purpose: The purpose of this project was to explore pediatric gastroenteritis admissions and admission rates related to non-clinical factors in Florida from 1995 to 2002. Specific aims were to describe the pediatric gastroenteritis rates over time, the characteristics of children hospitalized for gastroenteritis and county characteristics. Method: The study was retrospective and longitudinal assessing variation in annual admission rates for pediatric gastroenteritis from 1995 to 2002, using secondary data on pediatric hospitalizations and county characteristics. The sample included all children hospitalized with acute gastroenteritis. Descriptive analyses were performed using SPSS to assess the characteristics of children hospitalized for gastroenteritis, their hospitalizations and county characteristics. Results: The average pediatric gastroenteritis admission rate in Florida was 205.7 admissions per 100,000 child population (range: 0 to 1,008.5 admissions per 100,000 child population). The majority of children hospitalized were boys (53.0%), ages 0-4 years (78.6%), white (55.1%), insured (93.7%) and discharged home (99.0%). From 1995 to 2002, mean length of stay decreased (2.3 to 2.0 days) and mean total hospital charges increased ($3,248 to $4,918). Aggregate total hospital charges for hospitalizations in 2002 was $39.7 million. Conclusion/Discussion: In Florida, the effect of gastroenteritis was sizeable in terms of child hospitalizations and associated costs. Hospitalizations only represent a small portion of the overall impact of pediatric gastroenteritis.