Background. Database studies have identified that public health insurance status is associated with an increased risk of severe respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) disease in US infants. However, these studies did not adjust for the presence of other risk factors and did not evaluate the risk in preterm infants. Methods. In this study, we evaluate the independent association between public insurance and severe RSV disease outcomes adjusting for other risk factors. The prospective, observational RSV Respiratory Events among Preterm Infants Outcomes and Risk Tracking (REPORT) study was conducted over 2 consecutive RSV seasons at 188 US clinical sites that enrolled preterm infants born at 32-35 wGA who had not received RSV immunoprophylaxis with palivizumab. Adjusted incidence rates per 100 infant-seasons of the RSV-associated endpoints of outpatient lower respiratory tract infection (LRI), emergency department (ED) visits, RSV hospitalizations (RSVHs), and intensive care unit admissions during peak RSV season (November-March) were compared for infants with private and public insurance. Results. Of 1642 evaluable infants enrolled in the REPORT study, 50.1% had private insurance and 49.9% had public health insurance. Adjusted rates of RSV outpatient LRIs were similar; however, rates of ED visits (hazard ratio [HR], 2.04; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.20-3.45) were higher for subjects with public insurance, with a similar but nonsignificant trend observed for hospitalization (HR, 1.61; 95% CI, .93-2.78). Conclusions. Socioeconomic status, as evaluated by public versus private healthcare insurance, is a significant independent risk factor for ED use in US preterm infants and may contribute to increased RSVHs in this population.
Keywords: ED visits; insurance status; preterm infants; respiratory syncytial virus.