Patterns of inpatient antibiotic utilization by race and ethnicity at US children’s hospitals

Background and Objectives: Racial and ethnic variations in antibiotic utilization are well-reported in outpatient settings but little is known about inpatient settings. Our objective was to describe national inpatient antibiotic utilization among children by race and ethnicity. Methods: This study included hospital visit data from the Pediatric Health Information System between 01/01/2022 and 12/31/2022 for patients <20 years. Primary outcomes were the percentage of hospitalization encounters that received an antibiotic and antibiotic days of therapy (DOT) per 1000 patient days. Mixed-effect regression models were used to determine the association of race-ethnicity with outcomes, adjusting for covariates. Results: There were 846,530 hospitalizations. 45.2% of children were Non-Hispanic (NH) White, 27.1% were Hispanic, 19.2% were NH Black, 4.5% were NH Other, 3.5% were NH Asian, 0.3% were NH Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander (NHPI) and 0.2% were NH American Indian. Adjusting for covariates, NH Black children had lower odds of receiving antibiotics compared to NH White children (aOR 0.96, 95%CI 0.94–0.97), while NH NHPI had higher odds of receiving antibiotics (aOR 1.16, 95%CI 1.05–1.29). Children who were Hispanic, NH Asian, NH American Indian, and children who were NH Other received antibiotic DOT compared to NH White children, while NH NHPI children received more antibiotic DOT. Conclusions: Antibiotic utilization in children’s hospitals differs by race and ethnicity. Hospitals should assess policies and practices that may contribute to disparities in treatment; antibiotic stewardship programs may play an important role in promoting inpatient pharmacoequity. Additional research is needed to examine individual diagnoses, clinical outcomes, and drivers of variation.