Prediction of pediatric death in the year after hospitalization: a population-level retrospective cohort study.

Background: The study of how the quality of pediatric end-of-life care varies across systems of health care delivery and financing is hampered by lack of methods to adjust for the probability of death in populations of ill children.

Objective: To develop a prognostication models using administratively available data to predict the probability of in-hospital and 1-year postdischarge death.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study of 0-21 year old patients admitted to Pennsylvania hospitals from 1994-2001 and followed for 1-year postdischarge mortality, assessing logistic regression models ability to predict in-hospital and 1-year postdischarge deaths.