Potentially preventable care: ambulatory care-sensitive pediatric hospitalizations in South Carolina in 1998.
OBJECTIVE
We examined pediatric hospitalizations to assess personal and community factors affecting potentially preventable ambulatory care-sensitive condition (ACSC) hospitalizations.


METHODS
Data came from the South Carolina 1998 Hospital Inpatient Encounter Database, which yielded 10,156 ACSC discharges among 81,808 pediatric hospitalizations. Analyses were performed at three levels: ACSC as a percentage of all hospitalizations, ACSC patients compared with other patients, and county ACSC rates.


RESULTS
Younger, male, and nonwhite children; children with Medicaid insurance coverage; and children living in rural areas, health professional shortage area-designated counties, and poorer counties with fewer heath care resources were more likely to be hospitalized with ACSCs. A high percentage of children living in poverty and an absence of federally qualified community health centers were predictive of high county ACSC rates.


CONCLUSIONS
Poverty and the absence of a provider serving low-income children increase ACSC rates. Monitoring changes in ACSC rates can be a tool for studying the effects of policy change.
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007348:Insurance, Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013022:South Carolina; D013997:Time Factors