OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to describe trends in hospital use by HIV-infected children and adolescents in the United States in the 10 years from 1994 (before highly active antiretroviral therapy) to 2003 (widespread use of highly active antiretroviral therapy).

METHODS

Data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample database were used. The most frequent diagnoses were evaluated by year, and trends in hospitalizations for selected diagnoses and procedures were examined by multivariate logistic regression.

RESULTS

In 2003, there were an estimated 3419 hospitalizations of HIV-infected children who were 18 years or younger, compared with 11785 such hospitalizations in 1994 (a 71% decrease). This decrease was more marked among infants and children who were younger than 5 years (94% for boys and 92% for girls) than among adolescents (decrease of 47% for boys and increase of 23% for girls 15-18 years of age). The inpatient fatality rate among HIV-infected children decreased from 5.0% in 1994 to 1.8% in 2003. The number of hospitalizations among HIV-infected children in the highly active antiretroviral therapy era decreased significantly compared with before highly active antiretroviral therapy (1994-1996) for Pneumocystis jiroveci, bacterial infection, or sepsis; fungal infection; encephalopathy; failure to thrive; and lymphocytic interstitial pneumonia. No significant change in the number of hospitalizations for Pneumococcus or cytomegalovirus was observed.

CONCLUSIONS

Dramatic decreases in the number of hospitalizations among HIV-infected children occurred since the advent of highly active antiretroviral therapy in the United States. However, this trend is not seen in hospitalizations of adolescents, particularly girls. Hospitalizations for several HIV-related conditions are less frequent in the highly active antiretroviral therapy era, but for certain other conditions, the hospitalization burden remains high.