LAUSR

BACKGROUND Congenital syphilis (CS) is a devastating yet preventable disease affecting the fetus. Recent increase in cases of CS in the United States has been reported by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There is a lack of data on hospitalization trends and healthcare utilization related to CS. We sought to describe CS hospitalization trends, morbidity and mortality during 2009 through 2016 and related healthcare expenditure. METHODS National inpatient level data collected from Kid's Inpatient Database and National Inpatient Sample databases from 2009 to 2016 were analyzed. CS hospitalizations were identified using International Classification of Diseases codes in age less than 1 year. Related demographics, risk factors and outcomes were calculated. Infant mortality related to CS were calculated per number of hospitalizations. RESULTS From 2009 to 2016, there were a total of 5912 CS-related hospitalizations. The overall trends in hospitalizations related to CS was up trending since 2009. African American ethnicity, public insurance/uninsured, low socioeconomic status, geographic location (South and West hospital regions), prematurity and low birth weight were significantly associated with CS and remained as independent risk factors. The mean length of stay (12.38 ± 0.10 d vs. 3.42 ± 0.1 d) and mean hospitalization charges were significantly higher in CS (P < 0.001) as compared with other hospitalized infants without CS. The total inflation-adjusted hospitalization charges have more than doubled over the years ($120,665,203 in 2016 vs. $54,290,310 in 2009). The rate of in-hospital deaths in CS hospitalization was 0.54% (32 deaths among 5912 hospitalizations). CONCLUSIONS The incidence of CS hospitalization has been increasing since 2009. CS contributes to a significant healthcare utilization burden; its prevention can save a large amount of healthcare-related expenditure.