Table 1.
National Estimates of Emergency Department (ED) Visits for Over-the-Counter (OTC) Cough and Cold Medication (CCM)-related Harms, by Patient and Case Characteristics, 2017-2019a
| Characteristic | Therapeutic Use | Non-therapeutic Useb | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cases | Annual Estimate | Cases | Annual Estimate | |||||
| No. | No. | % | 95% CI | No. | No. | % | 95% CI | |
| Age (Years) | ||||||||
| <4 | 13 | -- | -- | -- | 74 | 776 | 4.7 | (2.9 - 6.5) |
| 4 - 11 | 60 | 951 | 9.2 | (5.2 - 13.3) | 34 | 559 | 3.4 | (1.8 - 5.0) |
| 12 - 17 | 50 | 1,181 | 11.4 | (7.3 - 15.6) | 279 | 3,657 | 22.3 | (15.7 - 28.9) |
| 18 - 24 | 65 | 1,419 | 13.8 | (9.6 - 17.9) | 193 | 3,694 | 22.5 | (18.8 - 26.2) |
| 25 - 34 | 62 | 1,730 | 16.8 | (13.1 - 20.4) | 232 | 5,005 | 30.5 | (23.3 - 37.7) |
| 35 - 44 | 59 | 1,338 | 13.0 | (9.0 - 16.9) | 51 | 1,066 | 6.5 | (4.6 - 8.4) |
| 45 - 54 | 46 | 1,182 | 11.5 | (8.9 - 14.0) | 51 | 1,066 | 6.5 | (4.3 - 8.7) |
| 55 - 64 | 33 | 675 | 6.5 | (4.0 - 9.1) | 13 | -- | -- | -- |
| ≥65 | 66 | 1,677 | 16.2 | (12.3 - 20.2) | 15 | -- | -- | -- |
| Sex | ||||||||
| Female | 270 | 6,307 | 61.1 | (55.8 - 66.4) | 410 | 7,289 | 44.4 | (38.1 - 50.7) |
| Male | 184 | 4,012 | 38.9 | (33.6 - 44.2) | 532 | 9,126 | 55.6 | (49.3 - 61.9) |
| Disposition c | ||||||||
| Hospitalized | 38 | 912 | 8.8 | (5.9 - 11.8) | 510 | 8,194 | 49.9 | (42.9 - 56.9) |
| Treated/released or left against medical advice | 416 | 9,407 | 91.2 | (88.2 - 94.1) | 430 | 8,163 | 49.7 | (42.4 - 57.1) |
| Type of non-therapeutic use | ||||||||
| Nonmedical use | NA | NA | NA | NA | 432 | 7,870 | 47.9 | (43.0 - 52.9) |
| Self-harm | NA | NA | NA | NA | 417 | 7,382 | 45.0 | (40.3 - 49.6) |
| Unsupervised pediatric exposure | NA | NA | NA | NA | 93 | 1,164 | 7.1 | (4.8 - 9.3) |
| No. of implicated medications | ||||||||
| 1 | 345 | 7,959 | 77.1 | (72.2 - 82.0) | 593 | 9,930 | 60.5 | (55.6 - 65.4) |
| 2 | 85 | 1,873 | 18.2 | (13.8 - 22.5) | 199 | 3,809 | 23.2 | (18.1 - 28.3) |
| 3 | 11 | -- | -- | -- | 92 | 1,706 | 10.4 | (7.3 - 13.5) |
| 4 or more | 13 | -- | -- | -- | 58 | 970 | 5.9 | (3.6 - 8.2) |
| Total | 454 | 10,319 | 100.0 | 942 | 16,416 | 100.0 | ||
CI = confidence interval. NA = not applicable.
Estimates are from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System–Cooperative Adverse Drug Event Surveillance project, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Estimates based on <20 cases or total estimates <1200 for the study period are considered statistically unstable and are not shown (--).
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).
Missing for 2 cases of ED visits for harms from non-therapeutic CCM use.