The Impact of Socioeconomic Status on Time to Decannulation Among Children With Tracheostomies

Abstract

Objective To determine if time to tracheostomy decannulation differs among children by socioeconomic status. Study Design Case series with chart review Setting Tertiary pediatric medical center. Methods Patients (≤21 years old) who underwent tracheostomy from January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2016. Patients were divided into 2 groups based on their socioeconomic status (SES), low SES and high SES. Principal components analysis was used to create an index for SES using census data obtained by the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey 5 year data profile from 2013 to 2017. Statistical analysis was performed using a χ 2 for categorical variables and Wilcoxon rank‐sum test for continuous variables. A general linear model was constructed to control for clinical factors to understand the independent effect of SES on time to decannulation. Results In total, 215 patients were included; of these patients, 111 patients (52%) were included in the high‐SES group and 104 patients (48%) were included in the low‐SES group. There was a significant difference in the time to decannulation for children based on SES status, with those children in the low‐SES group taking on average 10 months longer to decannulate (38.7 vs 28.0 months, P =. 0007). Median follow‐up was 44.1 months (interquartile range, 29.6‐61.3 months). Conclusion Health care disparities appear to exist among children undergoing decannulation of their tracheostomy tube. Patients with lower SES had a significantly longer time to decannulation than those with higher SES.