Table. Characteristics in Patient Encounters to Emergency Departments of 32 US Children’s Hospitals Across the Study Period.
| Characteristic | Patients, No. (%) | P valuea | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 2009 | 2012 | 2015 | 2018 | ||
| Encounters | 26 082 062 | 2 300 773 | 2 590 346 | 2 743 284 | 2 819 384 | NA |
| Age group, y | ||||||
| <1 | 4 351 048 (16.7) | 406 365 (17.7) | 435 603 (16.8) | 451 833 (16.5) | 451 214 (16.0) | <.001 |
| 1-4 | 9 432 406 (36.2) | 862 153 (37.5) | 959 644 (37.0) | 970 525 (35.4) | 985 230 (34.9) | |
| 5-12 | 8 488 882 (32.5) | 720 738 (31.3) | 831 429 (32.1) | 909 941 (33.2) | 942 260 (33.4) | |
| 13-17 | 3 809 698 (14.6) | 311 504 (13.5) | 363 668 (14.0) | 410 985 (15.0) | 440 680 (15.6) | |
| Male sex | 13 842 567 (53.1) | 1 234 541 (53.7) | 1 380 175 (53.3) | 1 449 885 (52.9) | 1 484 373 (52.7) | <.001 |
| Race/ethnicity | ||||||
| Non-Hispanic white | 9 273 181 (35.6) | 802 446 (34.9) | 960 403 (37.1) | 934 474 (34.1) | 971 489 (34.5) | .01 |
| Non-Hispanic black | 7 136 412 (27.4) | 690 558 (30.0) | 664 834 (25.7) | 742 264 (27.1) | 736 418 (26.1) | |
| Hispanic | 7 543 194 (28.9) | 633 256 (27.5) | 663 572 (25.6) | 854 808 (31.2) | 890 190 (31.6) | |
| Other | 2 129 275 (8.2) | 174 513 (7.6) | 301 537 (11.6) | 211 738 (7.7) | 221 287 (7.8) | |
| Complex chronic condition(s) | 1 565 472 (6.0) | 124 739 (5.4) | 146 078 (5.6) | 168 971 (6.2) | 188 496 (6.7) | <.001 |
| Insurance | ||||||
| Public | 16 511 436 (64.4) | 6 519 739 (63.8) | 1 329 523 (59.3) | 1 676 181 (65.1) | 1817359 (66.4) | .19 |
| Private | 7 504 040 (29.3) | 3 062 916 (30.0) | 720 402 (32.1) | 764 819 (29.7) | 770482 (28.2) | |
| Otherb | 1 606 001 (6.3) | 634 538 (6.2) | 191 445 (8.5) | 133 442 (5.2) | 147402 (5.4) | |
| Disposition | ||||||
| Discharged | 22 455 390 (86.1) | 1 973 612 (85.8) | 2 198 937 (84.9) | 2 381 230 (86.8) | 2 459 165 (87.2) | .003 |
| Inpatient admission | 2 845 465 (10.9) | 250 795 (10.9) | 275 318 (10.6) | 300 903 (11.0) | 313 896 (11.1) | |
| ICU admission | 272 060 (1.0) | 20 770 (0.9) | 25 659 (1.0) | 30 341 (1.1) | 33 937 (1.2) | |
| Transferred | 162 777 (0.6) | 8896 (0.4) | 14 951 (0.6) | 19 437 (0.7) | 18 885 (0.7) | |
| Died | 4402 (0) | 455 (0) | 478 (0) | 406 (0) | 428 (0) | |
| Other | 614 028 (2.4) | 67 015 (2.9) | 100 662 (3.9) | 41 308 (1.5) | 27 010 (1.0) | |
| Census region | ||||||
| Midwest | 7 562 417 (29.0) | 744 817 (32.4) | 742 418 (28.7) | 773 932 (28.2) | 806 368 (28.6) | <.001 |
| Northeast | 2 095 794 (8.0) | 178 722 (7.8) | 216 352 (8.4) | 211 764 (7.7) | 222 281 (7.9) | |
| South | 10 322 420 (39.6) | 925 648 (40.2) | 1 061 249 (41.0) | 1 061 693 (38.7) | 1 096 150 (38.9) | |
| West | 6 101 431 (23.4) | 451 586 (19.6) | 570 327 (22.0) | 695 895 (25.4) | 694 585 (24.6) | |
Abbreviations: ICU, intensive care unit; NA, not applicable.
a
The χ2 test P values comparing all years are given for each variable.
b
Other includes American Indian, Asian, multiracial, Native Hawaiian, other race, and missing race.