Visits
to the Emergency Department Exceed 100 Million in 1999
Fewer Young People
Require Emergency Treatment for Injuries
For Release
Monday, June 25, 2001
Contact: NCHS Press Office
(301) 458-4800
CDC Office of Media Relations (404) 639-3286
E-mail: paoquery@cdc.gov
National Hospital
Ambulatory Medical Care Survey: 1999 Emergency Department Summary.
Advance Data No. 320. 36 pp. (PHS) 2001-1250. View/download PDF
1 MB
The latest national
data on the use of hospital emergency departments show that there were 103
million visits in 1999, up 14 percent from 90 million visits in 1992.
Because the number of hospitals providing emergency care did not increase
during the 1990s, by the end of the decade these hospitals were seeing an
additional 35,000 patients each day, according to a new report released
today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The increase in visits
to the emergency department is a result of overall population growth as
well as increases in the number of seniors. Older Americans, those 75
years of age and
over, had the highest rate of emergency department visits--63 visits per 100 persons per
year.
Over a third of visits
were related to injuries. During the 1990s, injury visits dropped
substantially for those under 25 years of age. "It's
encouraging," said Dr. Jeffrey P. Koplan, Director of the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, "that injury prevention efforts may
be paying off for children and young adults. Still, we have more to do to
make our homes and communities safer." Almost 30 percent of injuries
seen in the emergency department occurred at home.
Stomach and abdominal
pain, chest pain, and fever were the most commonly recorded reasons for a
visit to the emergency department. There were 1.4 million visits due to adverse
drug reactions or other complications from medical care in 1999, up 80
percent from 1992.
CDC's National Center
for Health Statistics conducts this annual survey of visits to the
emergency department as part of its National Health Care Survey, which also
covers doctors' offices, hospitals, nursing homes, hospices, and home
health care.
The survey found that
medications were used in 73 percent of all visits. From 1992 to 1999, the
number of drugs prescribed increased by 34 percent. Older patients were
more likely to have medications ordered or prescribed for them. Medication
for pain relief was the most frequent class of drugs administered to
children (under 15 years of age), surpassing antibiotics, the use of which
has been declining since 1993.
The use of the
emergency department varied by age and other patient characteristics.
Patients with Medicaid were more likely to use the emergency department
than those who had other forms of insurance or were without insurance. The
African American population used the emergency department at about twice the rate of
the white population in 1999. Between 1992 and 1999, the visit rate for
black persons 65 years of age and over rose by 59 percent but did not
change for white persons in this age group.
About 14 percent of
patients arrived at the emergency department by ambulance. On average,
patients waited about 49 minutes to see the doctor, but this varied
considerably by hospital location and size of the emergency department.
About 17 percent of the
visits were deemed to be emergent, that is the patient should be seen
within 15 minutes of arrival; another 30 percent of the visits were
classified as urgent enough for the patient to need to see the doctor
within an hour.
About 13 percent of
patients seen in the emergency department were admitted to the hospital;
however, among those with a primary diagnosis of heart disease, some 60
percent were admitted.
The National Hospital
Ambulatory Medical Care Survey is a national probability survey of visits
to hospital emergency departments of non-Federal, short-stay and general
hospitals in the United States. The report can be
viewed or downloaded from the CDC Website.
# # #
CDC protects people’s
health and safety by preventing and controlling diseases and injuries;
enhances health decisions by providing credible information on critical
health issues; and promotes healthy living through strong partnerships
with local, national and international organizations.