Figure 1: Estimated Rate and Proportion of Emergency Department (ED) Visits for Over-the-Counter (OTC) Cough and Cold Medication (CCM)-Related Harms, by Age Group and Intent of Use, 2017-2019.

Abbreviations: CCM = cough and cold medication; ED = emergency department. Estimates of ED visits for medication harms are from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System–Cooperative Adverse Drug Event Surveillance project, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; population estimates are from the US Census Bureau. Non-therapeutic use includes unsupervised exposures by patients aged ≤10 years, self-harm, and nonmedical use (i.e., abuse [clinician diagnosis of abuse or documentation of recreational use], misuse [using medication for symptom relief, but not using medication as directed], and overdoses without documentation of therapeutic intent, misuse, abuse, or self-harm). “% of ED visits for medication harms related to CCMs” corresponds to the proportion of ED visits for CCM-related harms in the specified age group of all ED visits for medication harms in that age group. The estimated proportion of ED visits for medication harms that were related to CCMs for each age group is shown with corresponding 95% confidence intervals. The estimated numbers of ED visits for harms attributed to therapeutic CCM use among patients aged <4 years and non- therapeutic CCM use among patients aged 55-64 years and ≥65 years were based on <20 cases and are therefore considered statistically unstable.