title: The direct hospitalisation costs of paediatric scalds: 2-year results of a prospective case series.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To reveal the characteristic and distribution of length of hospital stay (LOS) and direct hospitalisation costs of paediatric scald.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective case series observation was performed from January 2005 to December 2006 at the Burn Center, Changhai Hospital, Shanghai, China. The information, such as demographics, clinical diagnosis and treatments since admission, of the paediatric scald patients included in the series was recorded. The direct cost of a treatment event was recorded into the price system when it was incurred. All cost data were summarised on completion of the study. The distribution of LOS and the hospitalisation costs were recorded by gender, age, total burn area, depth of burn, blood transfusion and patterns of treatment. Mann-Whitney signed-rank test was used to assess the differences between continuous, non-normally distributed variables, and multiple linear regression was used to model LOS and direct hospitalisation costs. Statistical analyses were undertaken with SPSS 15.0 statistical software.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients aged 3 years or less accounted for more than half of the total LOS and hospitalisation costs, patients with burn area less than 10%TBSA (total burn surface area) accounted for more than 70% of the total LOS and more than half of the hospitalisation costs and patients with second-degree burn accounted for more than 78% of the total LOS and hospitalisation costs. Depth of burn, area of burn, patterns of treatment and blood transfusion were independent predictors of LOS; whereas LOS, area of burn and blood transfusion were independent predictors of hospitalisation costs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Paediatric scalds have particular characteristics in terms of distribution of LOS and direct hospitalisation costs and the factors influencing them. The data presented in this study should assist burn care practitioners and hospital epidemiologists estimate and compare the economic burden of paediatric burns at other institutions; it may also be useful in resource allocation and cost-effectiveness analysis of treatment versus prevention strategies.
authors.affiliation: Burn Center, Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China.
authors.forename: Lv
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kai-Yang
authors.forename: Zhu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Shi-Hui
authors.forename: Tang
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hong-Tai
authors.forename: Jia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yi-Tao
authors.forename: Xia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhao-Fan
authors.forename: Ben
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dao-Feng
authors.forename: Lu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Wang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Guang-Qing
authors.forename: Wang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Guang-Yi
authors.forename: Xiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Shi-Chu
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Da-Sheng
authors.forename: Ma
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bing
authors.forename: Zhang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Jian-Rong
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D002056:Burns / Q000191:economics* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000191:economics; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China; D004180:Direct Service Costs; D005260:Female; D017721:Hospital Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies