Pediatric anesthesia & critical care
Updating the Epidemiology of Pediatric Critical Care in the United States: 2001–2022
Authors' conclusion
The number of U.S. children admitted to ICUs continued to increase substantially in 2022, with rising prevalence of ICU care among hospitalized children
Study context
- Population
- Hospitalized children aged 0–17 years, excluding newborns, Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Inpatient Databases, 21 US states, 2001–2022
- Participants
- 2,617,308 hospital admissions
- Outcome
- Pediatric ICU admission trends
- Follow-up
- 2001–2022
Methodological detailspopulation-based, 21 US states
- Population-based
- 21 US states
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
- Admissions with a non-neonatal ICU admission
- 410,646 (15.7%)
- ICU admission prevalence among hospitalizations, 2001
- 10.5%
- ICU admission prevalence among hospitalizations, 2022
- 20.7%
- ICU patients admitted to highest-level pediatric facilities, 2001
- 41.1%
- ICU patients admitted to highest-level pediatric facilities, 2019
- 72.3%
- ICU patients admitted to highest-level pediatric facilities, 2022
- 69.3%
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Comorbidities, technology dependence and organ failure · 2019–2022
- Percentage of ICU patients with chronic comorbidities, technology dependence and organ failure decreased slightly; population-based incidence of comorbidities and technology dependence rose
ICU mortality · 2001–2022
- ICU mortality, 2001
- 2.4%
- ICU mortality, 2022
- 1.6%
National estimates of ICU admissions and total hospital costs (2022 dollars) · 2019–2022
- Estimated ICU admissions, 2019
- 239,000
- Estimated ICU admissions, 2022
- 328,000
- Total hospital costs, 2019
- $11.6 billion
- Total hospital costs, 2022
- $14.4 billion
- Age- and sex-adjusted national estimates
Parts of this Brief are withheld: the automatic checks could not confirm them against the abstract.
Original publication
Updating the Epidemiology of Pediatric Critical Care in the United States: 2001–2022. Crit Care Med. Published 10 August 2026. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →