Emergency department visit rates highest for those younger than 1 year and 75 years and older, and for Black and African American non-Hispanic people
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, Aug. 15, 2024 (HealthDay News) — In 2022, the emergency department visit rate was 47 visits per 100 people, according to an August data brief published by the National Center for Health Statistics.
Christopher Cairns, M.P.H., from the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Maryland, and colleagues used data from the 2022 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey to present characteristics of emergency department visits by age group, sex, race and ethnicity, payment source, and mention of COVID-19.
The researchers found that in 2022, the overall emergency department visit rate was 47 visits per 100 people. Emergency department visit rates were highest for infants younger than 1 year and adults aged 75 years and older (99 and 76 visits per 100 infants and people, respectively). Among the selected racial and ethnic groups, the emergency department visit rate for Black or African American non-Hispanic people was the highest (91 visits per 100 people). The lowest emergency department visit rate was seen for patients with private insurance compared with all other primary expected sources of payment that were considered; the highest rate was seen for patients with Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program. A COVID-19 diagnosis was confirmed for 4.8 percent of all emergency department patient visits in 2022.
“In 2022, there were an estimated 155 million emergency department visits in the United States, with a total emergency department visit rate of 47 visits per 100 people,” the authors write.
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