Abstract
Background: Pediatric rehabilitation units offer unique challenges due to complex rehabilitation needs of children based on their age group and diagnosis. Length of stay (LOS) is an indirect measure of hospital cost and efficiency of a clinical service and it is important to determine the factors affecting LOS in hospitalized children undergoing inpatient rehabilitation. Methods: Record of 350 children (males: 222, female: 128) who underwent inpatient pediatric rehabilitation program at King Fahad Medical City, Riyadh Saudi Arabia during 2011 to 2018 were reviewed. Diagnoses were categorized into cerebral palsy, spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, non-traumatic brain injury and others. Variables such as age, gender, diagnosis, home location, and length of hospital stay were analyzed. Median (25th – 75th quartiles) are reported for non-normally distributed quantitative variables. Results: Most children admitted for rehabilitation had diagnoses of cerebral palsy (40%) and traumatic brain injury (22%). The median LOS was 39.5 (28.75 – 56) days, patients with spinal cord injuries had a significantly higher LOS 46 (30 – 72) days. Two-thirds of the children were from outside the Riyadh region. Cerebral palsy patients were significantly younger in age 6 (5 – 9) years as compared to other diagnoses. Traumatic brain injury was prevalent significantly in males (p=0.018), whereas female patients had a significantly higher non-traumatic brain injury (p=0.018). Spearman Rho Correlation results depicted a weak but significant positive relationship between LOS and age (rho=0.142, p=0.018). Conclusion: LOS of children undergoing inpatient rehabilitation varies according to the diagnosis, age, gender, and home location. LOS may be reduced by adapting strategies based on these measures.
Recommended Citation
Ullah S, Zaheer Qureshi A, Sami W, Ilyas A, Tantawy S, AlQatari S, et al. Trends in Length of Stay: Experience From a Tertiary Care Pediatric Rehabilitation Unit in Saudi Arabia.. The Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice. 2023 Sep 21;21(4), Article 6.
