OBJECTIVES:

To compare trends in hospital length of stay, total costs and comorbidities in Epilepsy, Migraine and Sleep disorders.

METHODS: The 2016 National Inpatient Sample (NIS) data set from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project was utilized in order to determine the number of hospital admissions for Epilepsy, Migraine and Sleep disorders. Propensity score matched analysis was conducted to compare hospital LOS and costs in selected patients. Thirty comorbidities were assessed using Elixhauser scoring. Multivariate logistic regression was conducted to assess predictor variables for LOS and costs.

RESULTS:

In 2016, Sleep disorders had significantly higher number of hospitalizations compared to Epilepsy and Migraine (3.06 million versus 1.19 million and 0.59 million visits, respectively). The patients with sleep disorders were older than patients with Epilepsy and Migraine (61.47 [SD 16.33] versus 52.11 [SD 22.16] and 47.83 [SD 17.14] years, respectively). Vast majority of Migraine patients were female (81%) compared to patients with Epilepsy (51%) and Sleep disorders (46%). Most Epilepsy (49%) and Sleep disorders (57%) patients were covered by Medicare, while for Migraine (39%), Private insurance was the main payer. The mean hospital LOS was longest for Epilepsy (6.03 [SD 8.91] days), followed by Sleep disorders and Migraine (5.41 [SD 6.84] and 4.22 [SD 5.03] days, respectively). Similarly, mean charges were highest for Epilepsy, followed by Sleep disorders and Migraine ($59335, $58790 and $45096, respectively). Hypertension and Chronic Pulmonary Disease were the two most common comorbidities across the three groups.

CONCLUSIONS: Epilepsy, Migraine and Sleep disorders lead to high resource use due to high rate of hospitalizations and long length of stay. There is a need for better management of patients with these disorders.