Quantifying the Healthcare Burden of Pediatric Feeding Disorder after Congenital Heart Surgery.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the healthcare costs and use burden of pediatric feeding disorder after congenital heart surgery.

STUDY

DESIGN

A retrospective, population-based cohort study using claims data (2009-2018) was performed. Participants include patients aged 0-18 years who had undergone congenital heart surgery and were included in the insurance database ≥1 year after surgery. The main exposure variable was the presence of a pediatric feeding disorder, defined as a need for a feeding tube at discharge or diagnosis of dysphagia or feeding-related difficulty within the study timeframe. Main outcomes include overall and feeding-related medical care use, defined as readmissions and outpatient use, and feeding-related cost of care within 1 year of surgery.

RESULTS

A total of 10 849 pediatric patients were identified, with 3347 (30.9%) presenting with pediatric feeding disorder within 1 year of surgery. Patients with pediatric feeding disorder spent a median of 12 days (IQR, 6-33 days) in the hospital, compared with 5 days (IQR, 3-8 days) in patients without (P < .001). Rate ratios for overall readmissions, feeding-related readmissions, feeding-related outpatient use, and cost of care over the first year after surgery were significantly increased at 2.9 (95% CI, 2.5-3.4), 5.1 (95% CI, 4.6-5.7), 7.7 (95% CI, 6.5-9.1), and 2.2 (95% CI, 2.0-2.3) among patients with pediatric feeding disorder as compared with those without.

CONCLUSIONS

Pediatric feeding disorder after congenital heart surgery is associated with a significant healthcare burden. Multidisciplinary care for and research on this health condition is needed to identify optimal management strategies to reduce this burden and improve outcomes.