Increased Testing and Health Care Costs for Pediatric Cannabis Exposures.
Pediatr Emerg Care
; 37(12): e850-e854, 2021 Dec 01.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-30998654
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
This study aimed to evaluate the process of identifying marijuana exposure in a children's hospital emergency department and compare the cost of diagnostic testing and procedures.METHODS:
A retrospective chart review was performed on patients 31 days to 20 years old with a positive marijuana toxicology screen result between November 2009 and December 2014. Primary outcomes included time to provider recognition of marijuana exposure, number of diagnostic tests and procedures performed, and length of hospital stay. Patients were analyzed based on time of exposure recognition (forthcoming compared with not forthcoming of marijuana exposure) and age (children <12 years compared with adolescents >12 years).RESULTS:
There were 37 children and 38 adolescents included. Mean time to exposure recognition was 2.3 ± 4.3 hours in children compared with 0.4 ± 0.9 hours in adolescents (P = 0.02). Patients who were not forthcoming of marijuana exposure experienced more than twice as many diagnostic tests or procedures compared with children who were forthcoming of marijuana exposure (mean, 8.91 vs 4 tests, P < 0.0001) and more than a 4-fold higher cost of potentially avoidable diagnostic tests/procedures. Length of hospital stay was significantly longer in children (18.34 ± 2.39 hours) compared with adolescents (4.22 ± 0.52 hours; P ≤ 0.0001). Few parents or guardians were able to disclose characteristics of the marijuana product.CONCLUSION:
Delay in recognition of marijuana exposure is associated with high resource utilization, unnecessary medical costs, and prolonged length of stay.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Cannabis
Tipo de estudio:
Health_economic_evaluation
/
Observational_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Límite:
Adolescent
/
Child
/
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Pediatr Emerg Care
Asunto de la revista:
MEDICINA DE EMERGENCIA
/
PEDIATRIA
Año:
2021
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Canadá