National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey: 1992 Emergency Department Summary

The National Center for Health Statistics has just released a new report entitled, "National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey: 1992 Emergency Department Summary." This report presents national estimates of the utilization of ambulatory medical care services provided by hospital-based emergency departments (ED's) in the United States during 1992. The estimates are based on data from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS). Ambulatory medical care services are described in terms of patient characteristics, visit characteristics, and facility characteristics.

Data Highlights:

An estimated 89.8 million visits were made to ED's in the United States in 1992--about 35.7 visits per 100 persons.

Approximately half of all ED visits were illness related and more than one-third were injury related. The majority of ED visits (87.0 percent) were first visits for the presenting problem.

The categories "stomach and abdominal pain, cramps, and spasms" and "chest pain and related symptoms" were the two most frequently mentioned reasons for visiting the ED.

Accidental falls accounted for the largest share of injury-related ED visits (22.7 percent), followed by motor vehicle accidents (12.2 percent).

Procedures were performed at 42.3 percent of ED visits. The administration of intravenous fluids (14.9 percent) and wound care (12.9 percent) were reported most often.

Keywords: Utilization, Injury, Diagnoses, ICD-9-CM

This page last reviewed January 11, 2007