Pediatric Urology Surgical Wait Times in Ontario: A Retrospective Cohort Study

A recent national report showed that pediatric urology has the longest mean surgical wait times among children's specialties in Canada, with an average wait of 12.6 months from surgical consultation to the surgery. The report focused its analysis on pediatric scoliosis patients, revealing that delayed surgery resulted in $44.6 million in additional healthcare costs, largely due to requiring more complex procedures and resulting in more complications and readmissions. However, the impact of long surgical waits on pediatric urology patients remains unknown. This study will use provincial health data to describe wait times across different types of pediatric urology surgery in Ontario and how the COVID-19 pandemic affected these wait times. We will investigate the proportion of children receiving surgery within recommended national timeframes and identify clinical and sociodemographic factors, including age, diagnosis, priority level, urgency, socioeconomic status, rurality, and procedure type, that are associated with longer waits. We will also examine the association between prolonged waits and adverse health outcomes, such as emergency department visits, clinic visits, or urgent surgical conversion. By providing the first comprehensive evaluation of pediatric urology surgical wait times in Ontario, this study will identify where delays occur and which populations are most affected. These findings will establish the foundation for future research evaluating the health and economic consequences of delayed surgery and assessing alternative models of surgical care delivery for children in Ontario.