Reasons for hospital admissions among youth and young adults with cerebral palsy

Objective: To identify the most common reasons for acute care hospital admissions among youth (age range, 13-17.9y) and young adults (age range, 23-32.9y) with cerebral palsy (CP).

Design: We completed a secondary analysis of data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) to determine the most frequently observed reasons for admissions and the associated lengths of stay (LOS).

Setting: Participants were identified from 6 children's treatment centers in Ontario, Canada.

Participants: Health records data from youth with CP (n=587) and young adults with CP (n=477) contributed to this study.

Interventions: Not applicable.

Main outcome measures: The most common reasons for hospital admission, relative frequencies of admissions for each reason, and mean LOS were reported.

Results: The analysis of CIHI records identified epilepsy and pneumonia as the top 2 reasons for admissions in both age groups. Both age groups were commonly admitted because of infections other than pneumonia and urinary tract infections (UTIs), gastrointestinal (GI) problems such as malabsorption, and mental illness. The reasons that were unique to youth included orthopedic and joint-related issues, other respiratory problems, and scoliosis. In young adults, mental illness was the third most common reason for admission, followed by lower GI or constipation problems, malnutrition or dehydration, upper GI problems, fractures, and UTIs.

Conclusions: This article provides important clinical information that can be used in the training of physicians and health care providers, and to guide future planning of ambulatory care services to support the clinical management of persons with CP over their lifespan.