Pediatric hospital admissions in Indigenous children: a population-based study in remote Australia

Background: We analysed hospital admissions of a predominantly Aboriginal cohort of children in the remote Fitzroy Valley in Western Australia during the first 7 years of life. Methods: All children born between January 1, 2002 and December 31, 2003 and living in the Fitzroy Valley in 2009-2010 were eligible to participate in the Lililwan Project. Of 134 eligible children, 127 (95%) completed Stage 1 (interviews of caregivers and medical record review) in 2011 and comprised our cohort. Lifetime (0-7 years) hospital admission data were available and included the dates, and reasons for admission, and comorbidities. Conditions were coded using ICD-10-AM discharge codes. Results: Of the 127 children, 95.3% were Indigenous and 52.8% male. There were 314 admissions for 424 conditions in 89 (70.0%) of 127 children. The 89 children admitted had a median of five admissions (range 1-12). Hospitalization rates were similar for both genders (p = 0.4). Of the admissions, 108 (38.6%) were for 56 infants aged