Emergency Department Visits by Patients with Substance Use Disorder in the United States. West J Emerg Med 2021 Aug 19;22(5):1076-1085
Date
09/22/2021Pubmed ID
34546883Pubmed Central ID
PMC8463055DOI
10.5811/westjem.2021.3.50839Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85116026523 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 19 CitationsAbstract
INTRODUCTION: We aimed to characterize emergency department (ED) utilization and clinical characteristics of patients with substance use disorder (SUD) seeking emergency care for all reasons.
METHODS: Using 2016-2017 ED data from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, we investigated demographics, ED resource utilization, and clinical characteristics of patients with SUD vs those without SUD.
RESULTS: Of all adult ED visits (N = 27,609) in the US in 2016-2017, 11.1% of patients had SUD. Among ED patients with SUD, they were mostly non-Hispanic White (62.5%) and were more likely to be male (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.80 confidence interval [CI], 1.66-1.95). Emergency department patients with SUD were also more likely to return to the ED within 72 hours (aOR 1.32, CI, 1.09-1.61) and more likely to be admitted to the hospital (aOR 1.28, CI, 1.14-1.43) and intensive care unit (aOR 1.40, CI, 1.05-1.85).
CONCLUSION: Patients with SUD have specific demographic, socioeconomic, and clinical characteristics associated with their ED visits. These findings highlight the importance of recognizing co-existing SUD as risk factors for increasing morbidity in acutely ill and injured patients, and the potential role of the ED as a site for interventions aimed at reducing harm from SUD.
Author List
Zhang X, Wang N, Hou F, Ali Y, Dora-Laskey A, Dahlem CH, McCabe SEAuthor
Aaron Dora-Laskey MD Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Emergency Medicine department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AdolescentAdult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Cross-Sectional Studies
Emergency Service, Hospital
Female
Health Care Surveys
Hospitalization
Humans
Male
Medicare
Middle Aged
Quality of Life
Substance-Related Disorders
United States
Young Adult
