Researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital Target Appendicitis (Accountable Care Organizations, Child Opportunity Index, and Complicated Appendicitis In Children): Digestive System Diseases and Conditions – Appendicitis

2025 FEB 07 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Gastroenterology Daily News -- Investigators discuss new findings in Digestive System Diseases and Conditions - Appendicitis. According to news reporting out of Columbus, Ohio, by NewsRx editors, research stated, “Child Opportunity Index (COI) is associated with complicated appendicitis (CA) in children. Value-based care through an accountable care organization (ACO) may modify this association.”

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from Nationwide Children’s Hospital, “We aimed to determine if enrollment in our state’s ACO, Partners For Kids (PFK), modified the association between COI and CA. Using a single-institution, retrospective review of children with public insurance undergoing appendectomy for acute appendicitis, COI and clinical confounders were compared by simple versus CA. Multivariable logistic regression models using COI, insurance, and age were fit with and without interaction terms to determine if PFK enrollment modified the association between COI and CA. Among 1337 children, 31.0% had CA. Most (78.6%) were enrolled in PFK; this was not different between simple and CA. CA was associated with younger median age (7.0 y versus 8.0 y, P< 0.001). As overall COI quintile decreased (lower opportunity), the percentage of children with CA increased (P = 0.01). On multivariable regression controlling for age, PFK, and COI, only Very Low COI and age remained significantly associated with CA. The association between COI and CA was not modified by PFK enrollment. COI and PFK enrollment were not associated with postoperative complications, except children with PFK had fewer 30-d readmissions (4.2% versus 14.6%, P< 0.001) compared to those with other public insurance.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Low COI was associated with higher CA, and this association was not modified by enrollment in an ACO, suggesting that ACO enrollment alone may not be sufficient in addressing social determinants of health among children with CA.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Accountable Care Organizations, Child Opportunity Index, and Complicated Appendicitis In Children. Journal of Surgical Research, 2025;306:85-93. 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/)

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Kyle J. Van Arendonk, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Dept. of Pediatric Surgery, 700 Childrens Dr, Columbus, OH 43205, United States. Additional authors for this research include Shruthi Srinivas, Brenna Rachwal, Kristine L. Griffin, Taha Akbar, Brian Kenney, Ihab Halaweish, Jenna Wilson, Aymin Bahhur, Lindsey Asti and Peter C. Minneci.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jss.2024.12.018. 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.

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)