Social Risk Factors of Recurrent Croup

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate associations between recurrent croup and neighborhood-level social determinants of health, including socioeconomic status, education, physical infrastructure, environmental exposure, and healthcare access.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of 252 recurrent and 594 isolated pediatric croup cases from seven hospitals and ten otolaryngology clinics across two health systems. Patient addresses were geocoded and linked to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Social Determinants of Health database. Multivariate logistic regression was used to assess associations between recurrent croup and neighborhood-level socioeconomic, environmental, and access-related factors.

Results: Patients with recurrent croup were younger (mean age 3.30 years vs. 4.84 years for isolated croup, p < .0001), and lived in areas of lower household income (p < .05) and educational attainment (p < .01). There were no significant differences in population density, air pollution, or distance to emergency departments between recurrent and isolated croup.

Conclusions: Social determinants of health, particularly lower household income and education, were associated with recurrent croup. Physicians should consider these factors in the management of recurrent croup and engage in shared decision-making with parents to improve outcomes. Further research is needed to investigate additional environmental and demographic factors.

DOI

10.1016/j.ijporl.2025.112682

Publication Date

12-12-2025

Keywords

Environmental exposure, Geographic access to care, Health disparities, Pediatric otolaryngology, Recurrent croup, Social determinants of health, Socioeconomic status

ISSN

1872-8464

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS