Table 1. Characteristics of the Study Populationa.
| Characteristic | No. (%)b | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All enrollees, millions | Enrollees with ≥1 mental health emergency department visit | |||||
| Baseline year | Pandemic year 1 | Pandemic year 2 | Baseline year | Pandemic year 1 | Pandemic year 2 | |
| Total, No. | 3.0 | 2.8 | 2.7 | 17 614 | 13 608 | 16 815 |
| Documented sex | ||||||
| Male | 1.5 (51) | 1.4 (51) | 1.4 (51) | 7895 (45) | 5196 (38) | 6333 (38) |
| Female | 1.5 (49) | 1.4 (49) | 1.3 (49) | 9719 (55) | 8412 (62) | 10 482 (62) |
| Age, y | ||||||
| 5-12 | 1.8 (60) | 1.7 (59) | 1.6 (59) | 4483 (25) | 3109 (23) | 3722 (22) |
| 13-17 | 1.2 (40) | 1.1 (41) | 1.1 (41) | 13 131 (75) | 10 499 (78) | 13 093 (78) |
| Rurality | ||||||
| Nonrural | 2.9 (96) | 2.7 (96) | 2.6 (96) | 16 813 (95) | 12 947 (95) | 16 111 (96) |
| Rural | 0.1 (4) | 0.1 (4) | 0.1 (4) | 801 (5) | 661 (5) | 704 (4) |
| County quartile: income | ||||||
| Highest | 1.0 (35) | 1.0 (34) | 0.9 (34) | 6024 (34) | 4613 (34) | 5831 (35) |
| 50th-75th Percentile | 0.8 (26) | 0.7 (26) | 0.7 (26) | 4543 (26) | 3452 (25) | 4299 (26) |
| 25th-50th Percentile | 0.7 (25) | 0.7 (25) | 0.7 (25) | 4372 (25) | 3519 (26) | 4298 (26) |
| Lowest | 0.5 (15) | 0.4 (15) | 0.4 (15) | 2675 (15) | 2024 (15) | 2387 (14) |
| County quartile: % not Whitec | ||||||
| Highest | 0.6 (20) | 0.5 (20) | 0.5 (19) | 2510 (14) | 1941 (14) | 2477 (15) |
| 50th-75th Percentile | 0.9 (30) | 0.8 (29) | 0.8 (29) | 4741 (27) | 3762 (28) | 4639 (28) |
| 25th-50th Percentile | 0.8 (27) | 0.8 (27) | 0.7 (27) | 5215 (30) | 3901 (29) | 4872 (29) |
| Lowest | 0.7 (24) | 0.7 (24) | 0.7 (24) | 5148 (29) | 4004 (29) | 4827 (29) |
Study population includes youth aged 5 to 17 years enrolled in medical and behavioral health coverage from a large national insurer. Rurality is defined by the rural-urban commuting area classification of rural or small town, assessed at the county level. Income quartile and percent non-White (Asian, Black/African American, Hispanic, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, multiracial, and other race and ethnicity) quartile are based on 2018 US census estimates of median household income at the county level. Comparison between study sample and US population is available in eTable 1 in Supplement 1. Approximately 5.4% of youth in the US live in rural areas.27
Baseline year indicates March 2019 to February 2020; pandemic year 1, March 2020 to February 2021; and pandemic year 2, March 2021 to February 2022.
Asian, Black/African American, Hispanic, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, multiracial, and other race and ethnicity.