Determinants of Emergency Department Use: Are Race and Ethnicity Important?

Study objective: To determine whether race/ethnicity is an important determinant of emergency department use. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey in a public ED to determine self-reported ED visits over the preceding 3 months. The study group comprised consecutive ambulatory patients (N=1...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annals of emergency medicine 1996-12, Vol.28 (6), p.677-682
Main Authors: Baker, David W, Stevens, Carl D, Brook, Robert H
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
African Americans
Aged
Anesthesia. Intensive care medicine. Transfusions. Cell therapy and gene therapy
Biological and medical sciences
California
Confidence Intervals
Cross-Sectional Studies
Emergency and intensive care: techniques, logistics
Emergency Service, Hospital - statistics & numerical data
Ethnic Groups
European Continental Ancestry Group
Female
Health Services Accessibility
Hispanic Americans
Hospitals, University
Humans
Insurance, Health
Intensive care medicine
Intensive care unit. Emergency transport systems. Emergency, hospital ward
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Odds Ratio
Transportation
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Summary:Study objective: To determine whether race/ethnicity is an important determinant of emergency department use. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey in a public ED to determine self-reported ED visits over the preceding 3 months. The study group comprised consecutive ambulatory patients (N=1,049) with nonemergency medical problems. Results: Blacks, whites, and Hispanics were equally likely to report one or more visits to an ED in the 3 months before study enrollment. Blacks were the most likely to report two or more ED visits in the preceding 3 months (19.0%), followed by whites (13.5%) and Hispanics (11.4%) ( P=.01; unadjusted odds ratio, 1.82 for blacks versus Hispanics). In multivariate analysis, older age ( P
ISSN:0196-0644
1097-6760
DOI:10.1016/S0196-0644(96)70093-8