The number of emergency department visits in the U.S. increased by 23 percent from 1997 to 2007, to 117 million visits, according to a new National Health Statistics report. The data come from the 2007 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, which used a sample of 482 visits to EDs in nonfederal general and short-stay hospitals in the U.S.
Some of the survey's other findings include:
- Infants under 12 months old were the age group with the highest annual ED visit rate at 88.5 visits per 100 U.S. infants.
- The rate for all people in the U.S. was 39.4 visits per 100 persons.
- The visit rate for people living in nursing homes was four times that of those living in private residents, while the visit rate for homeless people was nearly twice that of people living in private residences.
- Asian people visited the ED half as often as white people, while black people visited at nearly double the rate of white people.
- Nearly two-thirds of arrivals occurred during nonbusiness hours (5 p.m. to 8 a.m.)
- The leading injury-related cause of ED visits was unintentional falls.
The report also covers data including leading reasons for visits, primary diagnoses, injury, poisoning, and adverse effects of medical treatment, care providers and hospital admissions.
To learn more:
- see the National Health Statistics report
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