Importance Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) remains one of the most common indications for pediatric hospitalization in the United States, and it is frequently the focus of research and quality studies. Use of administrative data is increasingly common for these purposes, although proper validation is required to ensure valid study conclusions. Objective To validate administrative billing data for childhood community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) hospitalizations. Design Case-control. Setting Four freestanding children’s hospitals in the United States. Participants Medical records of a 25% random sample of 3,646 children (n=998) discharged in 2010 with at least one ICD-9-CM code representing possible pneumonia were reviewed. Discharges (matched on date of admission) without a pneumonia-related discharge code were also reviewed to identify potential missed pneumonia cases. Two reference standards, based on provider diagnosis alone (provider-confirmed) or in combination with clinical and radiographic evidence of pneumonia (definite), were used to identify CAP. Main Exposure Twelve ICD-9-CM based coding strategies, each using a combination of primary or secondary codes representing pneumonia or pneumonia-related complications. Six algorithms excluded children with complex chronic conditions. Main Outcome Measures Sensitivity, specificity, negative and positive predictive values (NPV, PPV) of the twelve identification strategies. Results For provider-confirmed CAP (n=680), sensitivity ranged from 60.7–99.7%; specificity 75.7–96.4%; PPV 67.9–89.6%; and NPV 82.6–99.8%. For definite CAP (n=547), sensitivity ranged from 65.6–99.6%; specificity 68.7–93.0%; PPV 54.6–77.9%; and NPV 87.8–99.8%. Unrestricted use of the pneumonia-related codes was inaccurate, although several strategies improved specificity to >90% with variable impact on sensitivity. Excluding children with complex chronic conditions demonstrated the most favorable performance characteristics. Performance of the algorithms was similar across institutions. Conclusions and Relevance Administrative data are valuable for studying pediatric CAP hospitalizations. The strategies presented here will aid in the accurate identification of relevant and comparable patient populations for both research and performance improvement studies.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Narrow-spectrum antibiotics are recommended as the first-line agent for children hospitalized with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). There is little scientific evidence to support that this consensus-based recommendation is as effective as the more commonly used broad-spectrum antibiotics. The objective was to compare the effectiveness of empiric treatment with narrow-spectrum therapy versus broad-spectrum therapy for children hospitalized with uncomplicated CAP. METHODS: This multicenter retrospective cohort study using medical records included children aged 2 months to 18 years at 4 children's hospitals in 2010 with a discharge diagnosis of CAP. Patients receiving either narrow-spectrum or broad-spectrum therapy in the first 2 days of hospitalization were eligible. Patients were matched by using propensity scores that determined each patient’s likelihood of receiving empiric narrow or broad coverage. A multivariate logistic regression analysis evaluated the relationship between antibiotic and hospital length of stay (LOS), 7-day readmission, standardized daily costs, duration of fever, and duration of supplemental oxygen. RESULTS: Among 492 patients, 52% were empirically treated with a narrow-spectrum agent and 48% with a broad-spectrum agent. In the adjusted analysis, the narrow-spectrum group had a 10-hour shorter LOS (P = .04). There was no significant difference in duration of oxygen, duration of fever, or readmission. When modeled for LOS, there was no difference in average daily standardized cost (P = .62) or average daily standardized pharmacy cost (P = .26). CONCLUSIONS: Compared with broad-spectrum agents, narrow-spectrum antibiotic coverage is associated with similar outcomes. Our findings support national consensus recommendations for the use of narrow-spectrum antibiotics in children hospitalized with CAP.

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The level of income inequality (ie, the variation in median household income among households within a geographic area), in addition to family-level income, is associated with worsened health outcomes in children. OBJECTIVE To determine the influence of income inequality on pediatric hospitalization rates for ambulatory care-sensitive conditions (ACSCs) and whether income inequality affects use of resources per hospitalization for ACSCs. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This retrospective, cross-sectional analysis used the 2014 State Inpatient Databases of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project of 14 states to evaluate all hospital discharges for patients aged 0 to 17 years (hereafter referred to as children) from January 1 through December 31, 2014. EXPOSURES Using the 2014 American Community Survey (US Census), income inequality (Gini index; range, 0 [perfect equality] to 1.00 [perfect inequality]), median household income, and total population of children aged 0 to 17 years for each zip code in the 14 states were measured. The Gini index for zip codes was divided into quartiles for low, low-middle, high-middle, and high income inequality. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Rate, length of stay, and charges for pediatric hospitalizations for ACSCs. RESULTS A total of 79 275 hospitalizations for ACSCs occurred among the 21 737 661 children living in the 8375 zip codes in the 14 included states. After adjustment for median household income and state of residence, ACSC hospitalization rates per 10 000 children increased significantly as income inequality increased from low (27.2; 95% CI, 26.5-27.9) to low-middle (27.9; 95% CI, 27.4-28.5), high-middle (29.2; 95% CI, 28.6-29.7), and high (31.8; 95% CI, 31.2-32.3) categories (P < .001). A significant, clinically unimportant longer length of stay was found for high inequality (2.5 days; 95% CI, 2.4-2.5 days) compared with low inequality (2.4 days; 95% CI, 2.4-2.5 days; P < .001) zip codes and between charges ($765 difference among groups; P < .001). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Children living in areas of high income inequality have higher rates of hospitalizations for ACSCs. Consideration of income inequality, in addition to income level, may provide a better understanding of the complex relationship between socioeconomic status and pediatric health outcomes for ACSCs. Efforts aimed at reducing rates of hospitalizations for ACSCs should consider focusing on areas with high income inequality.