Researchers at Loyola University Chicago Target Traumatic Brain Injury (Association Between Health Insurance and Outcomes After Tbi: a National Acs-tqp-puf Database Study): Central Nervous System Diseases and Conditions – Traumatic Brain Injury

Health Policy and Law Daily

2023 OCT 04 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Health Policy and Law Daily -- Investigators publish new report on Central Nervous System Diseases and Conditions - Traumatic Brain Injury. According to news reporting originating from Maywood, Illinois, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “According to the US Census Bureau, roughly 8.6% of the population lacks health care coverage. Increasing evidence suggests that insurance status plays a role in outcomes after trauma.”

Financial support for this research came from NIH National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS).

Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from Loyola University Chicago, “However, its role in the setting of traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains poorly understood. The Trauma Quality Programs Participant Use Files were queried from 2017 to 2019. All patients with isolated TBI were identified. Isolated TBI was defined as: 1) Head Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) > 3 and 2) AIS <3 in all other anatomical regions. Patients dead on arrival, with Head AIS = 6, or missing key data were excluded. Demographic and clinical information was compared between those with and without insurance. Multivariate regressions were used to assess associations between insurance status and TBI outcomes (inhospital mortality, discharge to facility, total ventilator days, Intensive Care Unit length of stay (ICU LOS), and hospital LOS). In total, 199,556 patients met inclusion criteria; 18,957 (9.5%) were uninsured. Compared to the insured, uninsured TBI patients were younger with a greater proportion of males. Uninsured patients were less severely injured and less comorbid. Uninsured patients had shorter unadjusted LOS in the ICU and hospital. Yet, uninsured patients experienced greater unadjusted inhospital mortality (12.7% versus 8.4%, P< 0.001). When controlling for covariates, lack of insurance was significantly associated with increased likelihood of mortality (OR 1.62; P< 0.001). This effect was most noticeable in patients with Head AIS = 4 (OR 1.55; P< 0.001) and Head AIS = 5 (OR 1.80; P< 0.001). Lack of insurance was also significantly associated with decreased likelihood of discharge to facility (OR 0.38), decreased ICU LOS (Coeff. -0.61), and decreased hospital LOS (Coeff. -0.82; all P< 0.001). This study demonstrates that insurance status is independently associated with outcome disparities after isolated TBI.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Despite the Affordable Care Act (ACA) reform, lack of insurance appears significantly associated with inhospital mortality, decreased likelihood of discharge to facility, and decreased time spent in the ICU and hospital.(.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Association Between Health Insurance and Outcomes After Tbi: a National Acs-tqp-puf Database Study. Journal of Surgical Research, 2023;290:16-27. Journal of Surgical Research can be contacted at: Academic Press Inc Elsevier Science, 525 B St, Ste 1900, San Diego, CA 92101-4495, USA. (Elsevier - www.elsevier.com; Journal of Surgical Research - http://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-surgical-research/)

The news editors report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Sarah D. Haider, Loyola University Chicago, Stritch School of Medicine, Division of Health Sciences, Maywood, IL, United States. Additional authors for this research include Kevin E. Galicia, Michael J. Anstadt, John C. Kubasiak, Richard P. Gonzalez, Purvi P. Patel and Lauren E. Reidy.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jss.2023.03.050. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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