Association between sleep disorders and health care utilization in children with chronic medical conditions: a Medicaid claims data analysis

To examine the risk of increased health care utilization (HU) linked to individual sleep disorders in children with chronic medical conditions.

Medicaid claims data from a cohort of 16,325 children enrolled in the Coordinated Healthcare for Complex Kids (CHECK) project were used. Sleep disorders and chronic medical conditions were identified using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth, and 10th Revision, codes. Three HU groups were identified based on participants’ prior hospitalizations and emergency department (ED) visits in the 12 months prior to enrollment: low (no hospitalization or ED visit), medium (1–2 hospitalizations or 1–3 ED visits), and high (≥ 3 hospitalizations or ≥ 4 ED visits). The odds of being in an increased HU group associated with specific sleep disorders after controlling for confounding factors were examined.

Children with chronic medical conditions and any sleep disorder had nearly twice the odds (odds ratio = 1.83; 95% confidence interval: 1.67–2.01) of being in an increased HU group compared with those without a sleep disorder. The odds of being in the increased HU group varied among sleep disorders. Only sleep-disordered breathing (odds ratio = 1.51; 95% confidence interval : 1.17–1.95), insomnia (odds ratio = 1.46; 95% confidence interval : 1.06–2.02), and circadian rhythm sleep disorder (odds ratio = 2.45; 95% confidence interval : 1.07–5.64) increased those odds. Younger age and being White were also linked to increased HU.

Sleep disorders are associated with increased risk of heightened HU (ED visits and/or hospitalizations) in children with chronic medical conditions. This risk varies by specific sleep disorders. These findings indicate the need for careful evaluation and management of sleep disorders in this high-risk cohort.