Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To characterize elective, post-neonatal operative circumcision at US children's hospitals, in the context of established sociodemographic disparities in access to neonatal circumcision. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was performed of boys undergoing elective, operative circumcision at the 23 Pediatric Health Information System (PHIS) hospitals who contributed data from 2004-2018. Boys > = 36 months' and those with congenital anomalies of the penis were excluded. Bivariate statistics were used to compare the circumcision cohort to a referent cohort of boys undergoing other ambulatory surgery or having an observational hospital stay. RESULTS: The annual median number of operative circumcisions per hospital increased during the study (72 [IQR 54-162] to 136 [IQR 88-266], P = .003). Boys undergoing circumcision were mostly non-Hispanic White (46.7%) or non-Hispanic Black (30.9%), in the lowest income quartile (26.6%), from the Southern US (51.5%), and publicly-insured (60.5%). When compared to the reference cohort, boys undergoing circumcision were more likely to be non-Hispanic Black (30.9 vs 15.7%, P = .001) and publicly-insured (60.5 vs 45.9%, P = . 001). CONCLUSION: The number of post-neonatal operative circumcisions performed at US children's hospitals nearly doubled from 2004 to 2018. Study findings suggest an emerging healthcare disparity, with non-Hispanic Black boys of lower socioeconomic status undergoing more post-neonatal operative circumcisions that are more expensive and higher risk.
