Table 1.

Emergency Department (ED) Visits for Adverse Drug Events (ADEs) from Systemic Medications, Children ≤19 Years, United States, 2011-2015^a

Patient and Case Characteristics	ED Visits for ADEs Involving Antibiotics			ED Visits for ADEs Involving Other Medicationsb
	Cases	Annual National Estimate		Cases	Annual National Estimate
	No.	No.	% (95% CI)	No.	No.	% (95% CI)
Age (Years)
<1-2	2,870	28,240	40.7 (38.5 - 42.8)	1,637	15,959	19.7 (16.1 - 23.3)
3-4	743	7,118	10.2 (8.9 - 11.6)	889	7,101	8.8 (7.8 - 9.7)
5-9	1,187	12,356	17.8 (16.0 - 19.5)	1,535	12,662	15.6 (14.0 - 17.2)
10-19	1,742	21,751	31.3 (29.2 - 33.4)	4,476	45,329	55.9 (51.6 - 60.3)
Sex
Female	3,411	37,292	53.7 (52.0 - 55.4)	4,303	42,139	52.0 (50.2 - 53.8)
Male	3,131	32,172	46.3 (44.6 - 48.0)	4,234	38,911	48.0 (46.2 - 49.8)
Type of ADE
Allergic reaction	5,763	59,776	86.1 (82.3 - 89.8)	1,769	20,797	25.7 (22.8 - 28.5)
Adverse effect	693	8,798	12.7 (9.0 - 16.4)	3,176	23,269	28.7 (24.1 - 33.3)
Effects of excess dose	37	373	0.5 (0.3 - 0.8)	1,793	17,510	21.6 (19.2 - 24.0)
Other effectc	49	517	0.7 (0.4 - 1.1)	1,799	19,473	24.0 (20.0 - 28.0)
Documented Medication Errord
Yes	63	651	0.9 (0.5 - 1.3)	1,434	13,896	17.1 (14.4 - 19.9)
No	6,479	68,813	99.1 (98.7 - 99.5)	7,103	67,154	82.9 (80.1 - 85.6)
No. of Implicated Medications
1	6,156	65,526	94.3 (93.3 - 95.3)	7,393	72,609	89.6 (87.9 - 91.3)
2 or more	386	3,938	5.7 (4.7 - 6.7)	1,144	8,440	10.4 (8.7 - 12.1)
Dispositione
Admitted, transferred, or held for observation	265	2,056	3.0 (2.1 - 3.8)	1,728	8,466	10.4 (6.1 - 14.8)
Treated/released or left against medical advice	6,277	67,408	97.0 (96.2 - 97.9)	6,808	72,580	89.5 (85.2 - 93.9)
Total	6,542	69,464	100.0	8,537	81,050	100.0

^aEstimates of ED visits for ADEs based on the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System-Cooperative Adverse Drug Event Surveillance project (2011-2015). Data exclude cases of unsupervised ingestion in which children aged ≤10 years accessed medications without caregiver oversight. N/A=not applicable.

^bIncludes prescription and over-the-counter medications, dietary supplements, homeopathic products, and vaccines that were administered by oral, sublingual, injectable, rectal, or transdermal routes.

^cExamples of other effects include injection site reactions, choking, and vaccination reactions.

^dRefers to errors in drug prescribing, dispensing or administration, including administration of another individual’s prescription medication, or accidental needle stick in individuals aged >10 years.

^eMissing for 1 case attributed to other medications.