Cost of inpatient rehabilitation for children with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury

ABSTRACT Aim: To evaluate the cost of inpatient rehabilitation for children with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Secondary aim was to identify factors associated with high inpatient rehabilitation cost. Method: Retrospective review of a tertiary hospital’s trauma registry was performed from 2011–2017. All patients aged 16 years or younger who sustained TBI with Glasgow Coma Scale ≤13 were included. Data on patient demographics, mechanism and severity of injury, hospital duration and inpatient rehabilitation cost were collected. We performed a regression analysis to identify factors associated with high rehabilitation cost. Results: There were a total of 51 patients. The median duration of inpatient rehabilitation was 13.5 days (interquartile range [IQR] 4–35), amounting to a median cost of SGD8,361 (IQR 3,543–25,232). Daily ward costs contributed the most to total inpatient rehabilitation cost. Those with severe TBI had longer duration of inpatient rehabilitation that resulted in higher cost of inpatient rehabilitation. Presence of polytrauma, medical complications, post-traumatic amnesia and TBI post-non-accidental injury (NAI) were associated with higher cost of inpatient rehabilitation. Conclusion: The cost of inpatient rehabilitation for paediatric patients post-TBI is significant in Singapore. Patients with TBI secondary to NAI had significantly higher cost of inpatient rehabilitation. Ways to reduce duration of hospitalisation post-TBI and early step-down care or outpatient rehabilitation should be explored to reduce cost. Keywords: Duration, paediatrics, rehabilitative medicine