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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2010 Jan 1.
Published in final edited form as: Headache. 2008 Nov 25;49(1):21–30. doi: 10.1111/j.1526-4610.2008.01282.x

Table 3.

Univariate associations with emergency department (ED) use and frequent use over the past year

No ED visit

N (%)
At least 1 visit
N (%)
OR (95%CI) visit versus no visit ≥4 visits
N (%)
OR (95% CI) ≥4 visits versus no visits
Socio-demographic variables
Gender
 -male 3270(25.6) 144(16.8) OR Reference 31(15.5) OR Reference
 -female 9509(74.4) 715(83.2) 1.9 (1.6, 2.3) 169(84.5) 2.0 (1.4, 3.0)
Age
<19 17(0.1) 2(0.2) OR Reference 1(0.5) OR Reference
19 – 30 1670(13.1) 132(15.4) 0.9 (0.2, 3.7) 35(17.5) 0.5 (0.1, 3.5)
31-40 2641(20.7) 198(23.1) 0.9 (0.2, 3.6) 44(22.0) 0.4 (0.1, 2.8)
41-50 3475(27.2) 270(31.4) 0.8 (0.2, 3.5) 57(28.5) 0.4 (0.1, 2.6)
51-65 3678(28.8) 221(25.7) 0.6 (0.1, 2.5) 53(26.5) 0.3 (0.0, 2.1)
>65 1298(10.2) 36(4.2) 0.2 (0.1, 0.9) 10(5.0) 0.1 (0.0, 1.0)
Health insurance
- No 1871(15.4) 144(17.3) OR Reference 37(19.2) OR Reference
-Yes 10280(84.6) 686(82.7) 0.9 (0.8, 1.1) 156(80.8) 0.8 (0.6, 1.2)
Income
<$22,500 2798(22.1) 178(46.4) 5.0(3.4, 7.4) 69(54.8) 12.1(4.9,29.9)
$22,500-39,999 2547(20.1) 82(21.4) 2.5(1.7, 3.9) 26(20.6) 5.0(1.9,13.0)
$40,000-59,999 2457(19.4) 43(11.2) 1.4(0.9, 2.2) 12(9.5) 2.4(0.8, 6.8)
$60,000-89,999 2422(19.1) 50(13.0) 1.6(1.0, 2.6) 14(11.1) 2.8(1.0, 7.9)
$90,000+ 2445(19.3) 31(8.1) OR Reference 5(4.0) OR Reference
Headache specific variables
MIDAS headache disability score
 0-5 7150(58.5) 254(31.2) OR Reference 34(18.5) OR Reference
 6-10 2022(16.5) 143(17.6) 1.9 (1.6, 2.4) 32(17.4) 3.2 (2.0, 5.2)
 11-20 1603(13.1) 161(19.8) 2.8 (2.3, 3.4) 39(21.2) 4.8 (3.0, 7.7)
 >20 1447(11.8) 256(31.4) 4.5 (3.8, 5.4) 79(42.9) 9.8 (6.5, 14.6)
Acute medication use
 -OTC only 7763(65.6) 222(27.0) OR Reference 38(20.1) OR Reference
 -Opiate, prescription NSAID 1413(11.9) 181(22.0) 5.6 (4.4, 7.1) 43(22.8) 9.24(5.8,14.7)
 -Triptan or DHE 2015(17.0) 303(36.9) 4.1 (3.3, 5.0) 73(38.6) 5.4 (3.5, 8.4)
 -Prescription other 635(5.4) 115(14.0) 4.6 (3.8, 5.4) 35(18.5) 6.0 (4.1, 8.9)
Preventative medication
 -None 6084(90.8) 344(74.6) OR Reference 75(67.0) OR Reference
 -Any 617(9.2) 117(25.4) 2.8 (2.2, 3.5) 37(33.0) 3.9 (2.6, 5.8)
Health professional seen most often for headache
-None 167(2.2) 11(1.4) OR Reference 3(1.6) OR Reference
-Primary care 4115(55.2) 264(33.6) 1.0(0.6, 1.9) 35(18.9) 0.5 (0.2, 1.6)
- Headache specialist 600(8.1) 85(10.8) 2.0 (1.0, 3.7) 21(11.4) 1.7 (0.5, 5.8)
Other healthcare variables
Depression screener (PHQ9)
Normal 6168(48.3) 214(24.9) OR Reference 41(20.5) OR Reference
Elevated 6611(51.7) 645(75.1) 2.8 (2.4, 3.3) 159(79.5) 3.5 (2.5, 5.0)
# of ED/UC visits for non- headache reasons
0 8749(80.7) 283(41.4) OR Reference 48(33.8) OR Reference
At least 1 2091(19.3) 400(58.6) 5.8 (4.9, 6.8) 94(66.2) 7.2 (5.1,10.2)
>3 381(3.5) 175(25.6) 12.97(10.5, 16.0) 58(40.8) 20.4 (13.8, 30.3)

Notes: OTC=over the counter medication, NSAID=non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, DHE=dihydroergotamine, PHQ=patient health questionnaire, PHQ>=4 was considered elevated