182091 Kawasaki Disease in Texas Children

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Alberto Coustasse, MD, MBA, DrPH , Health Management and Policy, School of Public Health, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX
Julius Larry, DDS;JD; MPHc , Health Management and Policy, School of Public Health, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX
Kristine Lykens, PhD , Health Management and Policy, School of Public Health, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX
Cody Arvidson, PhD , Division of Student Affairs, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX
Karan P. Singh, PhD , Department of Biostatistics, University of North Texas Health Science Center, School of Public Health, Fort Worth, TX
Kawasaki Disease (KD), an acute febrile illness of unknown etiology is the leading cause of non-congenital heart disease among children in the US. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to describe the prevalence of KD in Texas children using the 2004 Texas hospital discharge database, to describe the demographic characteristics of Texas Children with KD and to assess the need for continuing education for healthcare providers in recognizing the symptoms of KD. The study sample included 330 KD hospitalization cases in 2004 and used vital statistics for same year and state to calculate hospitalization rates. Age, gender, race/ethnicity, admitting diagnosis, risk mortality and source of admission were the independent variables. Results showed an overall hospitalization rate of 13.8 per 100,000 for children < 5 years old. There was an increased hospitalization rate for Non Hispanic Blacks (NHB) and Other (which included Asians) with 18.4 and 57.7 per 100,000 for children < 5 years old, respectively. Hispanic and non Hispanic whites presented lower hospitalization rates with 12.6 and 9.7 per 100,000 for children < 5 years old, respectively. The results further presented physicians failed to diagnose KD in 51% of cases on admission diagnosis. NHB < 5 years old were more likely to be correctly diagnosed with 67.6% compared to Other group, in which KD was diagnosed in only 29.7% of cases. More physician education is needed to promote earlier detection and treatment of KD in children as well as an active surveillance system from the CDC.

Learning Objectives:
1. Recognize and properly diagnose Kawasaki Disease. 2. Describe appropriate treatment modalities for KD. 3. Define KD cases using CDC criteria. 4. Describe proper report of cases to Public Health authorities in the affected state.

Keywords: Child Health, Emerging Diseases

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I participated in collecting, analyzing, and presenting the results and conclusions.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.