Characteristics of Patients With Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome and Predictors for a Longer Stay Following Hospitalization
Shaheen Sombans1, Sailaja Sanikommu2, Kamleshun Ramphul3, Renuka Verma4, Yogeshwaree Ramphul5, Nomesh Kumar6, Indu Meena3, Komal Kumari7, Stephanie Gonzalez Mejias3, Petras Jairam Das Lohana8, Fnu Arti9
1Bharati Vidyapeeth University Medical College and Hospital, Pune, India, 2Independent Researcher & Sri Manakula Vinayagar Med College and Hosp, 3Independent Researcher, 4Independent researcher, 5SSRN Hospital, 6Detroit Medical Center, 7LUMHS Jamshoro, 8Jacobi Medical Center, 9Medstar Union Memorial Hospital
Objective:
To investigate characteristics of Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) patients and factors that influence the length of stay (LOS).
Background:
LGS is a rare form of severe epileptic encephalopathy, and there is a paucity of data on these patients.
Design/Methods:
The 2019 National Inpatient Sample(NIS) from HCUP, AHRQ, and partners was used first to find cases of LGS with a principal diagnosis. Various patient characteristics were also studied. The mean LOS was explored, and variables that could lead to a longer than mean LOS were also probed via regression models.
Results:
We found 3210 patients with a principal diagnosis of LGS. The mean LOS was 4.17 days. Patients with LGS were predominantly males (54.4%), Whites (51.4%), and dependent on Medicaid (52.5%). Only 1.6% had diabetes, 4.7% had hypertension, 2.8% reported a diagnosis of depression, and 4.0% were obese. 15.9% of cases were admitted on the weekend. The overall mean age of all patients with LGS was 17.12 years. After adjusting for several factors, several variables were observed that could predispose to a longer hospital stay (LOS≥5 days), such as ages ≥60years (aOR 2.339, p=0.014) and 20-39 years (aOR1.368, p=0.004) (compared to patients of ages 0-19 years), diabetes (aOR 2.012, p=0.026), and hypertension (aOR 2.264, p<0.01), while LGS patients covered by private insurances (aOR 0.614, p=0.007) showed a lower risk relative to Medicare beneficiaries. No statistically significant risks were seen for sex, race, depression, obesity, and admission on the weekend. Finally, patients with a longer LOS were older (mean age of 20.10 years) compared to those with LOS <5 (mean age of 16.09 years).
Conclusions:
Our study provides an up-to-date perspective on various patient characteristics with LGS and factors that can cause a longer hospitalization, including different age groups, diabetes, and hypertension. Further studies addressing these differences can help optimize the care of these patients.