Skip to main content

Increased utilization of healthcare services in children with craniosynostosis.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Ruiz Colón, GD; Jin, MC; Grant, GA; Prolo, LM
Published in: J Neurosurg Pediatr
July 1, 2022

OBJECTIVE: Craniosynostosis is characterized by the premature fusion of at least one cranial suture. Although evidence suggests that patients with both syndromic and nonsyndromic craniosynostosis may benefit from developmental, behavioral, and mental health support, data on utilization of healthcare services are lacking. In this study the authors compared utilization of mental health care, rehabilitation therapies, and other specialty medical services among children with craniosynostosis, children with plagiocephaly, and healthy controls. METHODS: The Optum Clinformatics Data Mart database was queried to identify 1340 patients with craniosynostosis, of whom 200 had syndromic craniosynostosis. Long-term utilization of mental health care, rehabilitation therapies, and other medical services up to the age of 6 years was calculated. Rates of utilization were compared to healthy controls (n = 1577) and children with plagiocephaly (n = 1249). RESULTS: Patients with syndromic and nonsyndromic craniosynostosis used mental health care, occupational therapy, speech-language pathology, and other medical services at similar rates (p = 0.1198, p > 0.9999, p = 0.1097, and p = 0.8119, respectively). Mental health services were used more frequently by patients with craniosynostosis (11.0% in patients with syndromic craniosynostosis and 7.5% in those with nonsyndromic craniosynostosis) compared to patients in the plagiocephaly (5.0%, p = 0.0020) and healthy control (2.9%, p < 0.0001) cohorts. Rehabilitation therapies were more frequently used by patients with syndromic craniosynostosis and plagiocephaly (16.0% and 14.1%, respectively), which was significantly higher than use by healthy controls (p < 0.0001). Other medical subspecialty services (developmental pediatrics, ophthalmology, optometry, and audiology) were used by 37.0% of patients with craniosynostosis, compared with 20.9% (p < 0.0001) and 15.1% (p < 0.0001) of patients with plagiocephaly and healthy controls, respectively. Among patients with craniosynostosis, utilization did not differ by race or household income, but it was not uniform by age. Whereas ophthalmology utilization did not differ by age (p = 0.1003), mental health care was most commonly used among older children (p = 0.0107). CONCLUSIONS: In this study, the authors demonstrate that rates of utilization of mental health care, rehabilitation therapies, and other medical subspecialty services are similar between patients with syndromic and those with nonsyndromic craniosynostosis, but higher than in healthy controls. Although surgical correction may be considered an isolated event, providers and parents need to monitor all children with craniosynostosis-syndromic and nonsyndromic-for developmental and mental health support longitudinally. Future work should explore risk factors driving utilization, including suture involvement, repair type, and comorbidities.

Duke Scholars

Altmetric Attention Stats
Dimensions Citation Stats

Published In

J Neurosurg Pediatr

DOI

EISSN

1933-0715

Publication Date

July 1, 2022

Volume

30

Issue

1

Start / End Page

52 / 59

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Neurology & Neurosurgery
  • 3213 Paediatrics
  • 3209 Neurosciences
  • 1114 Paediatrics and Reproductive Medicine
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Ruiz Colón, G. D., Jin, M. C., Grant, G. A., & Prolo, L. M. (2022). Increased utilization of healthcare services in children with craniosynostosis. J Neurosurg Pediatr, 30(1), 52–59. https://doi.org/10.3171/2022.2.PEDS2253
Ruiz Colón, Gabriela D., Michael C. Jin, Gerald A. Grant, and Laura M. Prolo. “Increased utilization of healthcare services in children with craniosynostosis.J Neurosurg Pediatr 30, no. 1 (July 1, 2022): 52–59. https://doi.org/10.3171/2022.2.PEDS2253.
Ruiz Colón GD, Jin MC, Grant GA, Prolo LM. Increased utilization of healthcare services in children with craniosynostosis. J Neurosurg Pediatr. 2022 Jul 1;30(1):52–9.
Ruiz Colón, Gabriela D., et al. “Increased utilization of healthcare services in children with craniosynostosis.J Neurosurg Pediatr, vol. 30, no. 1, July 2022, pp. 52–59. Pubmed, doi:10.3171/2022.2.PEDS2253.
Ruiz Colón GD, Jin MC, Grant GA, Prolo LM. Increased utilization of healthcare services in children with craniosynostosis. J Neurosurg Pediatr. 2022 Jul 1;30(1):52–59.

Published In

J Neurosurg Pediatr

DOI

EISSN

1933-0715

Publication Date

July 1, 2022

Volume

30

Issue

1

Start / End Page

52 / 59

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Neurology & Neurosurgery
  • 3213 Paediatrics
  • 3209 Neurosciences
  • 1114 Paediatrics and Reproductive Medicine