Abstract
The largest group of recipients of pediatric gastrostomy have neurological impairment with intellectual disability (ID). This study investigated trends in first gastrostomy insertion according to markers of disadvantage and ID etiology. Linked administrative and health data collected over a 32-year study period (1983–2014) for children with ID born between 1983 and 2009 in Western Australia were examined. The annual incidence rate change over calendar year was calculated for all children and according to socioeconomic status, geographical remoteness, and Aboriginality. The most likely causes of ID were identified using available diagnosis codes in the linked data set. Of 11,729 children with ID, 325 (2.8%) received a first gastrostomy within the study period. The incidence rate was highest in the 0–2 age group and there was an increasing incidence trend with calendar time for each age group under 6 years of age. This rate change was greatest in children from the lowest socioeconomic status quintile, who lived in regional/remote areas or who were Aboriginal. The two largest identified groups of ID were genetically caused syndromes (15.1%) and neonatal encephalopathy (14.8%).
Conclusion: Gastrostomy is increasingly used in multiple neurological conditions associated with ID, with no apparent accessibility barriers in terms of socioeconomic status, remoteness, or Aboriginality.
What is Known: • The use of gastrostomy insertion in pediatrics is increasing and the most common recipients during childhood have neurological impairment, most of whom also have intellectual disability (ID). | |
What is New: • Nearly 3% of children with ID had gastrostomy insertion performed, with the highest incidence in children under 3 years of age. • Gastrostomy use across different social groups was equitable in the Australian setting. |
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Abbreviations
- ACHI:
-
Australian Classification of Health Intervention
- APC:
-
Annual Percentage Change
- CI:
-
Confidence Interval
- HMDC:
-
Hospital Morbidity Data Collection
- ICD:
-
International Classification of Disease
- ICPM:
-
International Classification of Procedures in Medicine
- ID:
-
Intellectual disability
- IDEA:
-
Intellectual Disability Exploring Answers
- IRSAD:
-
Index of Relative Socio-Economic Advantage and Disadvantage
- MNS:
-
Midwives Notification System
- PEG:
-
Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy
- WA:
-
Western Australia
- WARDA:
-
Western Australian Register for Developmental Anomalies
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Acknowledgements
We gratefully acknowledge staff at the WA Data Linkage Branch, Department of Health, and the data custodians, including the Western Australian Register of Developmental Anomalies, for their assistance in obtaining the linked data used in this project and manuscript review. We acknowledge the Department of Communities (previously the Disability Services Commission), the WA Department of Education, the Catholic Education Office, and the Association of Independent Schools of WA for the assistance with data collection for the IDEA database.
Funding
This project was funded by an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council project grant (APP1103746). HL is supported by an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council Senior Research Fellowship (APP1117105).
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Dr. Wong conceptualized and designed the study, was responsible for obtaining funding, performed the linked data analysis, participated in the initial writing of the manuscript, and reviewed and revised the manuscript.
A/Prof. Leonard conceptualized and designed the study, was responsible for obtaining funding, coded the indications for gastrostomy according to hospitalization data, and reviewed and revised the manuscript.
Mr. Pearson provided interpretation for the analysis of Aboriginality data and critically reviewed and revised the manuscript with reference to Aboriginality.
Dr. Glasson drafted the initial manuscript and reviewed and revised the manuscript from conceptualization to completion.
Prof. Forbes conceptualized and designed the study, was responsible for obtaining funding, reviewed and revised the manuscript, and critically reviewed the manuscript for important intellectual content regarding aspects of gastroenterology.
Dr. Ravikumara conceptualized and designed the study, was responsible for obtaining funding, reviewed and revised the manuscript, and critically reviewed the manuscript for important intellectual content regarding aspects of gastroenterology.
A/Prof. Jacoby conceptualized and designed the study, was responsible for obtaining funding, provided specialist statistical support, and reviewed and revised the manuscript.
Ms. Bourke collected data for the study and critically reviewed the manuscript for important intellectual content regarding aspects of intellectual disability.
Dr. Srasuebkul reviewed and critically reviewed the manuscript for important intellectual content regarding aspects of intellectual disability.
Prof. Trollor conceptualized and designed the study, was responsible for obtaining funding, reviewed and revised the manuscript, and critically reviewed the manuscript for important intellectual content regarding aspects of intellectual disability.
Dr. Wilson conceptualized and designed the study, was responsible for obtaining funding, reviewed and revised the manuscript, and critically reviewed the manuscript for important intellectual content regarding aspects of pediatric medicine.
Prof. Nagarajan conceptualized and designed the study, was responsible for obtaining funding, reviewed and revised the manuscript, and critically reviewed the manuscript for important intellectual content regarding aspects of pediatric medicine.
A/Prof. Jenny Downs conceptualized and designed the study, was responsible for obtaining funding coordinated and supervised linked data collection, reviewed and revised the manuscript and was the principal investigator of the research.
All authors approved the final manuscript as submitted and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.
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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Ethical approval was obtained from the Department of Health WA (#2016/32) and the Western Australian Aboriginal Health Ethics Committee (747).
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Informed consent was not obtained from individual participants included in the study due to the nature of the anonymized data linkage data.
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Wong, K., Leonard, H., Pearson, G. et al. Epidemiology of gastrostomy insertion for children and adolescents with intellectual disability. Eur J Pediatr 178, 351–361 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-018-3304-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-018-3304-x