Table 1. Clinical Characteristics of FNDs vs Other Neurological Disorders in Adult and Pediatric ED Visits Comparing FNDs With Other Neurological Disordersa.
| Variable | Adult ≥18 y (2017 NEDS) subpopulation (n = 118 034 396) | Pediatric 5-17 y (2017 NEDS) subpopulation (n = 15 522 879) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FND, No./total No. (%) (n = 36 359) | Non-FND, No./total No. (%) (n = 8 625 167) | P valueb | FND, No./total No. (%) (n = 3800) | Non-FND, No./total No. (%) (n = 328 609) | P valueb | |
| Age, median (IQR), y | 40.47 (27.76-53.83) | 58.06 (40.64-74.48) | <.001 | 14.56 (12.14-15.84) | 12.58 (9.00-15.18) | <.001 |
| Age category, y | ||||||
| 5-12 | NA | NA | <.001 | 914 (24.1) | 150 564 (45.8) | <.001 |
| 13-17 | NA | NA | 2886 (75.9) | 178 045 (54.2) | ||
| 18-40 | 17 921 (49.3) | 2 096 401 (24.3) | NA | NA | ||
| 41-65 | 14 022 (38.6) | 3 112 025 (36.1) | NA | NA | ||
| >65 | 4416 (12.2) | 3 416 740 (39.6) | NA | NA | ||
| Sex | ||||||
| Female | 25 807 (71.0) | 5 114 253 (59.3) | <.001 | 2733 (71.9) | 178 615 (54.4) | <.001 |
| Male | 10 547 (29.0) | 3 510 535 (40.7) | 1067 (28.1) | 149 972 (45.6) | ||
| Socioeconomic status | ||||||
| Zip code income quartile, percentile | ||||||
| 0-25th, Lowest | 13 281/35 697 (37.2) | 2 742 215/8 479 643 (32.3) | <.001 | 1257/3705 (33.9) | 108 271/324 938 (33.3) | .61 |
| 26th-50th | 10 304/35 697 (28.9) | 2 271 692/8 479 643 (26.8) | 1055/3705 (28.5) | 86 701/324 938 (26.7) | ||
| 51st-75th | 7464/35 697 (20.9) | 1 909 556/8 479 643 (22.5) | 824/3705 (22.2) | 73 418/324 938 (22.6) | ||
| 76th-100th, Highest | 4648/35 697 (13.0) | 1 556 180/8 479 643 (18.4) | 569/3705 (15.4) | 56 548/324 938 (17.4) | ||
| Psychiatric comorbidity | ||||||
| Any psychiatric disorder | 17 441 (48.0) | 2 229 382 (25.9) | <.001 | 1385 (36.4) | 24 035 (7.3) | <.001 |
| Mood disorder | 11 248 (30.9) | 1 501 542 (17.4) | <.001 | 733 (19.3) | 14 986 (4.6) | <.001 |
| Anxiety disorders | 10 660 (29.3) | 1 200 518 (13.9) | <.001 | 1029 (27.1) | 14 109 (4.3) | <.001 |
| Associated functional conditions | ||||||
| FSDs | 2588 (7.1) | 281 401 (3.3) | <.001 | 94 (2.5) | 1497 (0.5) | .001 |
| Discharge disposition | ||||||
| Home | 18 082 (49.7) | 4 386 370 (50.9) | <.001 | 2682 (70.6) | 261 575 (79.6) | <.001 |
| Transfer to short-term hospital | 265 (0.7) | 177 548 (2.1) | 81 (2.1) | 11 067 (3.4) | ||
| Transfer to other facility or rehabilitation | 718 (2.0) | 215 749 (2.5) | 69 (1.8) | 3301 (1.0) | ||
| Home with home health care | 179 (0.5) | 62 684 (0.7) | ≤10 | 278 (0.1) | ||
| Against medical advice | 576 (1.6) | 81 224 (0.9) | ≤10 | 854 (0.3) | ||
| Admitted to inpatient | 16 457 (45.3) | 3 675 531 (42.6) | 952 (25.1) | 50 666 (15.4) | ||
| Died in ED | ≤10 | 8538 (0.1) | <.001 | 0 | 218 (0.1) | <.001 |
| Died in hospitalc | 202 (0.6) | 117 795 (1.4) | <.001 | 0 | 477 (0.2) | <.001 |
| Primary insurance payer | ||||||
| Medicare | 11 395/36 124 (31.6) | 4 337 785/8 604 396 (50.4) | <.001 | ≤10 | 1030/327 786 (0.3) | .006 |
| Medicaid | 12 013/36 124 (33.3) | 1 700 281/8 604 396 (19.8) | 2027 (53.4) | 185 120/327 786 (56.5) | ||
| Private insurance | 8070/36 124 (22.3) | 1 766 219/8 604 396 (20.5) | 1512 (39.9) | 121 215/327 786 (37.0) | ||
| Self-pay | 3226/36 124 (8.9) | 556 225/8 604 396 (6.5) | 119 (3.2) | 10 867/327 786 (3.3) | ||
| No charge | 188/36 124 (0.5) | 27 786/8 604 396 (0.3) | 0 | 242/327 786 (0.1) | ||
| Other | 1232/36 124 (3.4) | 216 100/8 604 396 (2.5) | 125 (3.3) | 9312/327 786 (2.8) | ||
Abbreviations: ED, emergency department; FNDs, functional neurological disorders; FSDs, functional somatic disorders (irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, etc); IQR, interquartile range; NA, not applicable; NEDS, Nationwide Emergency Department Sample.
Where applicable, data are presented with a weighted estimate sample (No.) and corresponding percentage of total (column %) or are otherwise described in parentheses based on nonmissing data. Unweighted value number is not shown; in cases in which the unweighted number is 10 or less, the weighted numbers are not available (denoted by ≤10). In some cases, the totals for each variable do not sum to the heading totals owing to missing data, which is explained in eTable 3 in the Supplement.
P values were calculated by t tests for continuous variables and by χ2 tests for categorical variables.
The totals of those who died in the hospital include those who died in the ED and those who were admitted and subsequently died.