Access to pediatric trauma centres in Canada: a population-based retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND

Children with major trauma have better outcomes when treated in pediatric trauma centres, but population-based data on access to these centres in Canada are lacking. We aimed to estimate the proportion of children with major trauma who accessed a pediatric trauma centre in Canada (through direct transport or transfer) and compare access across provinces.

METHODS

We conducted a population-based cohort study of children (aged < 16 yr) who were admitted to hospital after a major trauma (Injury Severity Score > 12) in 9 Canadian provinces (excluding Quebec) from 2016 to 2021. We estimated the adjusted incidence of access to a pediatric trauma centre across provinces using robust Poisson regression and examined the effect of age and injury severity in subgroup analyses.

RESULTS

Of 3007 children with major trauma, 2335 (77.6%) were directly transported (n = 879, 29.2%) or transferred (n = 1456, 48.4%) to a pediatric trauma centre. Crude access to pediatric trauma centres was higher for younger children (80.9% among those aged 0 to 5 yr, 81.7% among those aged 6 to 12 yr, 69.9% among those aged 13 to 15 yr) and those with critical injuries (88.8%). Adjusted pediatric trauma centre access was lower in British Columbia (relative risk [RR] 0.68, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.63 to 0.74), the Atlantic provinces (RR 0.80, 95% CI 0.73 to 0.88), and Saskatchewan (RR 0.77, 95% CI 0.69 to 0.86) than Ontario, but was higher in Alberta (RR 1.06, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.10) and Manitoba (RR 1.14, 95% CI 1.09 to 1.19). Interprovincial differences were present across all subgroups (p < 0.0001).

INTERPRETATION: Across 9 Canadian provinces, 1 in 4 children with major trauma did not receive care in a pediatric trauma centre. These results suggest the opportunity for improvement in Canadian trauma systems to ensure that all children receive optimal injury care.