Association between Distance from a Children’s Hospital and Time to Access Healthcare in Children presenting with Rash.
Abstract
Locations farther from a hospital may be under-resourced due to their geographic isolation and increased spread of resources, communities, physicians, medications, and health care settings. We hypothesize that pediatric patients, with EM- or EM-like rashes, from distant locations, will present with more severe illness, due to the lack of resources and specialists. We performed a retrospective chart review of all Emergency Department or inpatient encounters with an ICD-10 code of L51 between 01/2013 and 10/2022. Our primary outcome was the duration of symptoms. Secondary outcomes included visits with a primary care provider (PCP) prior to seeking hospital care. We used Fisher exact test to analyze categorical values and Wilcox rank sum for continuous variables. Those more distant, had a median distance of 42.9, while proximate patients were 11.9. For the proximate patients, 132 had EM, 5 had SJS, 6 had Urticaria, and 6 had other infections. For the distant patients, 129 had EM, 11 had SJS, 5 had Urticaria, and 18 had other infections. For proximate patients, 53 had previous PCP visits and a median 1-day PCP visit with a median of 2 days of symptoms; for distant patients, 68 had previous PCP visits and a median 1-day PCP visit and a median of 2 days of symptoms. The implications of our study are reflective of how children access care versus disease prevalence, as EM can be managed in a PCP’s office. Additionally, those more distant had a wider range of symptom duration. Possible mechanisms for this include more severe illness and lack of local resources for care. It is important to consider that more distant communities may need more access to care, more resource allocation, and specialized care for more severe dermatological conditions (e.g. SJS) and a longer duration of symptoms (Johansson, 2014).
Start Time
15-4-2026 1:30 PM
End Time
15-4-2026 4:30 PM
Room Number
Culp Ballroom 316
Poster Number
4
Presentation Type
Poster
Presentation Subtype
Posters - Competitive
Presentation Category
Health
Student Type
Graduate and Professional Degree Students, Residents, Fellows
Faculty Mentor
Elizabeth Halvorson
Association between Distance from a Children’s Hospital and Time to Access Healthcare in Children presenting with Rash.
Culp Ballroom 316
Locations farther from a hospital may be under-resourced due to their geographic isolation and increased spread of resources, communities, physicians, medications, and health care settings. We hypothesize that pediatric patients, with EM- or EM-like rashes, from distant locations, will present with more severe illness, due to the lack of resources and specialists. We performed a retrospective chart review of all Emergency Department or inpatient encounters with an ICD-10 code of L51 between 01/2013 and 10/2022. Our primary outcome was the duration of symptoms. Secondary outcomes included visits with a primary care provider (PCP) prior to seeking hospital care. We used Fisher exact test to analyze categorical values and Wilcox rank sum for continuous variables. Those more distant, had a median distance of 42.9, while proximate patients were 11.9. For the proximate patients, 132 had EM, 5 had SJS, 6 had Urticaria, and 6 had other infections. For the distant patients, 129 had EM, 11 had SJS, 5 had Urticaria, and 18 had other infections. For proximate patients, 53 had previous PCP visits and a median 1-day PCP visit with a median of 2 days of symptoms; for distant patients, 68 had previous PCP visits and a median 1-day PCP visit and a median of 2 days of symptoms. The implications of our study are reflective of how children access care versus disease prevalence, as EM can be managed in a PCP’s office. Additionally, those more distant had a wider range of symptom duration. Possible mechanisms for this include more severe illness and lack of local resources for care. It is important to consider that more distant communities may need more access to care, more resource allocation, and specialized care for more severe dermatological conditions (e.g. SJS) and a longer duration of symptoms (Johansson, 2014).
