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August 6, 2026Hospital Pediatrics

Disparities in Hospital Length of Stay and Morbidity in Acute Care Pediatric Cardiology Patients

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Why the study?

Multicenter collaborative studies examining disparities in in-hospital outcomes were lacking in pediatric cardiology.

Do racial and ethnic disparities affect hospital length of stay and complications in pediatric acute care cardiology patients?

Population

29 079 ACCU hospitalizations from 28 centers

Comparison

Hospitalizations categorized by race, ethnicity, and region

Design

Multicenter registry-based cohort study

Key result

Non-Hispanic Black and other race/ethnicity pediatric cardiology patients had significantly longer hospital length of stay and more complications compared with non-Hispanic white patients (P<0.0001).

Authors

BHBrittney K. HillsDGDana B. GalSPSarah Plummer

Discussion

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Overview

Disparities in LOS and complications among Black and Hispanic ACCU patients warrant equity-focused QI; leaves open causal factors and intervention targets.

Key Points

  • The study aims to evaluate racial and ethnic disparities in hospital length of stay and complications among pediatric cardiology patients.
  • Utilized the Pediatric Acute Care Cardiology Collaborative registry
  • Examined hospitalizations from January 2, 2019, to July 30, 2021
  • Assessed differences using Wilcoxon rank sum and Kruskal-Wallis tests, and employed generalized linear models.
  • Non-Hispanic Black patients had longer length of stay (median 5.0 days) compared to non-Hispanic white patients (median 5.0 days), P < .0001.
  • Hispanic patients had a shorter length of stay (median 5.0 days) compared to non-Hispanic patients (median 6.0 days), P < .0001.
  • Complications were higher in non-Hispanic Black and other patients compared to non-Hispanic white patients.

Study Design

Type

Cohort (n=29,079)

Multicenter

Yes

Structured PICO

Do racial and ethnic disparities affect hospital length of stay and complications in pediatric acute care cardiology patients?

P
Population
29,079 hospitalizations in pediatric acute care cardiology units across 28 centers in the United States to evaluate racial and ethnic disparities in outcomes.
E
Exposure
Non-Hispanic Black, Non-Hispanic other, or Hispanic race/ethnicity
C
Comparator
Non-Hispanic white race/ethnicity
O
Outcome
Hospital length of stay (LOS) and mean total number of complicationshard clinical

Main Result

Absolute Event Rate: 5% vs 5%

p-value: p=<0.0001

Significant racial and ethnic disparities exist in hospital length of stay and complications among pediatric cardiology patients, with notable regional variations across the United States.

Cite This Study

Hills et al. (2026) conducted a cohort in Acute care pediatric cardiology (n=29,079). Non-Hispanic Black or other race/ethnicity vs. Non-Hispanic white race/ethnicity was evaluated on Length of stay (LOS) (p=<0.0001). Non-Hispanic Black and other race/ethnicity pediatric cardiology patients had significantly longer hospital length of stay and more complications compared with non-Hispanic white patients (P<0.0001).

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a743803764cddc9499d5e59https://doi.org/10.1542/hpeds.2025-008910
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