2625. Incidence of Bronchiolitis Requiring Hospitalization in the First 2 years of Life Among Healthy Term Infants with Different Races/Ethnicities: A Population-based Longitudinal Study

Abstract

Background: Race/ethnicity is currently not considered a risk factor for bronchiolitis, except for indigenous populations in western countries. We sought to determine the incidence of hospitalization with bronchiolitis among different races/ethnicities, because such information can lead to more tailored preventive care. Methods: We performed a population-based longitudinal observational study using the State Inpatient Database from New York state. Infants born between 2009 and 2013 at term without comorbidities were followed for the first 2 years of life, up to 2015. We calculated incidence among different race/ethnicity groups, and evaluated risks by developing Cox proportional hazards regression models. Results: Of 877,465 healthy term infants, 10 356 infants were hospitalized with bronchiolitis. Overall, incidence was 11.8 per 1,000 births. Substantial difference in infants born in different seasons was observed (Figure 1). The incidence in non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black, Hispanic, and Asian infants was 8.6, 15.4, 19.1, and 6.5 per 1,000 births, respectively (table). On multivariable analysis adjusting for socioeconomic status, the risks remained substantially high among non-Hispanic black (hazard ratio [HR] 1.42, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.34-1.51) and Hispanic infants (HR 1.77, 95% CI: 1.67-1.87), particularly beyond 2-3 months of age, whereas Asian race was protective (HR 0.62, 95% CI: 0.56-0.69) (Figure 2, 3). Conclusion: The risks of bronchiolitis hospitalization in the first 2 years of life was substantially higher among infants with non-Asian minority infants, particularly beyond 2-3 months of age. Further research efforts to identify effective public health interventions in each race/ethnic groups with varied socioeconomic status, such as improvement in access to care and anticipatory guidance, is warranted to overcome health disparity.