National Trends in the Potentially Preventable Hospitalization for Pediatric Asthma, 2016-2020

This policy brief analyzes national trends in potentially preventable hospitalizations for pediatric asthma among children aged 2-17 years in the United States from 2016 to 2020. Utilizing the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) data provided by the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), the study examines annual changes in hospitalization rates, explores disparities by demographics and rural-urban classification, and assesses related hospital costs.

Key Findings

• Potentially preventable pediatric asthma admissions dropped from 89.6 admissions per 100,000 children in 2016 to 68.4 in 2019, with an annual percentage change (APC) of -8.41%.
• Regarding age, the greatest decline was seen among children aged 5-9 (APC= -9.3%), then among children aged <5 years (APC= -7.9%), and among those aged 15-17 (APC= -6.3%).
• With respect to race/ethnicity, the highest rates of decline were observed among Black children (APC= -8.5%), then White children (APC= -7.4%), and Hispanic children (APC = -6.0%). Admission rates remained stable among children in other racial groups.
• Admission rates declined among children in most of the rural/urban categories. The greatest declines were seen among children in micropolitan (APC = -9.4%), and non-core areas (APC = -9.2%).
• Trend analysis shows that the hospitalization costs for pediatric asthma increased by 5-7% over time except in non-core areas, which saw no changes.
• Overall, admission rates for potentially preventable asthma fell by 59.3% in 2020 from 2019.
• Black and American Indian/Alaskan Native children saw the smallest decline in hospitalization rates for potentially preventable asthma in 2020.