Poverty related risk for potentially preventable hospitalisations among children in Taiwan

Chen, Likwang; Lu, Hsin-Ming; Shih, Shu-Fang; Kuo, Ken N; Chen, Chi-Liang; Huang, Lynn Chu

doi:10.1186/1472-6963-10-196

BMC Health Services Research

Table 3 Epidemiological data for potentially preventable hospitalisations during the first two years of life by economic status

From: Poverty related risk for potentially preventable hospitalisations among children in Taiwan

	All children	Poverty	Near poverty	Middle income	High income
	(n = 218,158)	(n = 1,829)	(n = 54,073)	(n = 109,382)	(n = 52,874)
Five disease categories combined
% of children using hospital care	19.3%	29.4%	19.6%	20.4%	16.6%
Total length of stay (in days; mean)	1.35	4.01	1.46	1.41	1.04
Ratio: length of stay^a		3.9	1.4	1.4	ref.
Total inpatient care expenses (in NT dollars; mean)	5,125.7	16,618.6	5,686.2	5,213.9	3,972.4
Ratio: expense^b		4.2	1.4	1.3	ref.
Number of admissions (mean)	0.3	0.7	0.3	0.3	0.2
Number of outpatient visits (mean)	34.7	32.8	33.5	36.5	32.3
Gastroenteritis and dehydration
% of children using hospital care	4.9%	6.9%	5.0%	5.3%	4.1%
Total length of stay (in days; mean)	0.21	0.42	0.22	0.22	0.16
Ratio: length of stay^a		2.5	1.3	1.3	ref.
Total inpatient care expenses (in NT dollars; mean)	627.9	1,337.4	664.2	658.2	503.5
Ratio: expense^b		2.7	1.3	1.3	ref.
Number of admissions (mean)	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.04
Number of outpatient visits (mean)	2.5	2.2	2.5	2.7	2.4
Asthma and chronic bronchitis
% of children using hospital care	0.3%	0.7%	0.3%	0.3%	0.2%
Total length of stay (in days; mean)	0.02	0.04	0.02	0.02	0.01
Ratio: length of stay^a		4.0	1.8	1.6	ref.
Total inpatient care expenses (in NT dollars; mean)	54.9	121.6	67.2	56.8	36.1
Ratio: expense^b		3.4	1.9	1.6	ref.
Number of admissions (mean)	0.003	0.009	0.004	0.003	0.002
Number of outpatient visits (mean)	0.2	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.2
Acute upper respiratory infections
% of children using hospital care	4.2%	4.8%	4.3%	4.5%	3.5%
Total length of stay (in days; mean)	0.17	0.24	0.18	0.18	0.14
Ratio: length of stay^a		1.8	1.3	1.4	ref.
Total inpatient care expenses (in NT dollars; mean)	519.8	706.6	539.5	556.7	416.7
Ratio: expense^b		1.7	1.3	1.3	ref.
Number of admissions (mean)	0.05	0.06	0.05	0.05	0.04
Number of outpatient visits (mean)	25.2	22.7	24.3	26.6	23.5
Lower respiratory infections
% of children using hospital care	12.5%	23.5%	12.8%	13.2%	10.5%
Total length of stay (in days; mean)	0.91	3.04	0.99	0.94	0.69
Ratio: length of stay^a		4.4	1.4	1.4	ref.
Total inpatient care expenses (in NT dollars; mean)	3,420.1	11,975.5	3,740.4	3,491.3	2,649.0
Ratio: expense^b		4.5	1.4	1.3	ref.
Number of admissions (mean)	0.2	0.5	0.2	0.2	0.1
Number of outpatient visits (mean)	5.9	6.7	5.7	6.3	5.4
Acute injuries and poisonings
% of children using hospital care	0.8%	2.0%	1.0%	0.9%	0.6%
Total length of stay (in days; mean)	0.05	0.27	0.06	0.05	0.04
Ratio: length of stay^a		7.4	1.7	1.3	ref.
Total inpatient care expenses (in NT dollars; mean)	503.1	2,477.4	674.9	451.0	367.0
Ratio: expense^b		6.8	1.8	1.2	ref.
Number of admissions (mean)	0.01	0.02	0.01	0.01	0.01
Number of outpatient visits (mean)	0.8	0.9	0.8	0.8	0.7

1USD = 32 NT dollars as of March 2010.
^a This row shows length of stay ratios of the other three economic categories to the high-income category. One digit after the decimal point is reported, which may introduce rounding error.
^b This row lists expense ratios of the other three economic categories to the high-income category. One digit after the decimal point is reported, which may introduce rounding error.

Back to article page

ISSN: 1472-6963

Contact us

General enquiries: journalsubmissions@springernature.com