Trends in Neighborhood Opportunity, Hospitalizations, and Costs for Pediatric Asthma.

Objective: To evaluate changes in (1) admissions and (2) costs of hospitalization over time relative to Child Opportunity Index (COI) levels for pediatric patients with asthma exacerbations.

Study design: We conducted a retrospective study using the PHIS database from 2016 to 2024 for children aged 2 to 18 years who presented to children's hospitals with an asthma exacerbation. Outcomes were odds of admission and costs (per hospitalization) over time relative to COI levels. Mixed-effects regression models with interaction terms were used for analyses.

Results: We identified 777,370 encounters, of which 208,415 (26.8%) were admitted. In adjusted models, odds of admission were significantly higher across all COI levels relative to encounters from very high COI levels for most years. Only encounters from very low COI neighborhoods showed a decreased average annual odds of admission relative to those from very high neighborhoods (adjusted annual percent change: -0.96% [95% CI: -1.59%, -0.33%], p = 0.003). Inflation-adjusted mean costs per hospitalization increased across all COI levels (p < 0.001 for all). The average annual cost increase for very low, low, moderate, and high COI levels was significantly lower compared to those from very high COI neighborhoods.

Conclusions: Disparities in admissions by neighborhood opportunity continue to exist but appear to be converging over time. Hospitalization costs among COI levels are increasing, although at a faster rate for those from the highest-opportunity neighborhoods. Future research is needed to understand continued hospitalization disparities and drivers of rising costs to develop community- and individual-level targeted interventions.