To characterize elective, post-neonatal operative circumcision at US children's hospitals, in the context of established sociodemographic disparities in access to neonatal circumcision.

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.

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).

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.