Table 1. Demographic and Visit Characteristics of Patients Visiting the ED by Presence of a Physical Restraint Order in the Electronic Medical Record, January 2013 to August 2018.
| Characteristic | Restraint usea | |
|---|---|---|
| No (n = 719 327) | Yes (n = 7090) | |
| ED type | ||
| Suburban | 93 219 (13.0) | 31 (0.4) |
| Community | 207 119 (28.8) | 917 (12.9) |
| Urban | 418 989 (58.2) | 6142 (86.6) |
| Sex | ||
| Male | 321 706 (44.7) | 4597 (64.8) |
| Female | 397 620 (55.3) | 2494 (35.2) |
| Age, mean (SEM) | 49.61 (0.02) | 45.63 (0.22) |
| Race | ||
| Asian | 7106 (1.0) | 36 (0.5) |
| Black or African American | 202 943 (28.2) | 2041 (28.8) |
| White | 383 979 (53.4) | 2852 (54.3) |
| Otherb | 125 299 (17.4) | 1161 (16.4) |
| Ethnicity | ||
| Hispanic or Latino | 120 325 (16.7) | 1042 (14.7) |
| Non-Hispanic Black or White | 593 822 (82.6) | 5981 (84.4) |
| Unknown | 5180 (0.7) | 67 (0.9) |
| Insurance status | ||
| Private | 238 742 (33.2) | 1251 (17.6) |
| Medicaid | 248 958 (34.6) | 3486 (49.2) |
| Medicare | 156 041 (21.7) | 1548 (21.8) |
| Self-pay | 3661 (0.5) | 80 (1.1) |
| Other | 71 925 (10.0) | 725 (10.2) |
| Illicit substance use | ||
| No | 526 439 (73.2) | 3905 (55.1) |
| Yes | 106 809 (14.8) | 2604 (36.7) |
| Not asked | 86 089 (12.0) | 581 (8.2) |
| Alcohol use | ||
| No | 391 708 (54.5) | 3067 (43.3) |
| Yes | 268 727 (37.4) | 3641 (51.4) |
| Not asked | 58 892 (8.2) | 382 (5.4) |
| Homeless | ||
| No | 716 521 (99.6) | 6926 (97.7) |
| Yes | 2806 (0.4) | 164 (2.3) |
| Discharge diagnosisc | ||
| Medical | 566 460 (78.7) | 4854 (68.5) |
| Psychiatric | 228 625 (31.8) | 4141 (58.4) |
| Alcohol or drugs | 72 782 (10.1) | 2103 (29.7) |
| Cognitive or neurologic | 62 106 (8.6) | 1201 (16.9) |
| Trauma | 49 018 (6.8) | 1045 (14.7) |
| Chief concernc | ||
| Medical | 326 633 (45.3) | 1057 (14.9) |
| Psychiatric | 20 543 (2.9) | 1321 (18.6) |
| Alcohol or drugs | 16 142 (2.2) | 1430 (20.2) |
| Cognitive or neurologic | 10 003 (1.4) | 502 (7.1) |
| Trauma | 52 864 (7.3) | 409 (5.8) |
| Emergency Severity Index leveld | ||
| 1 | 7045 (1.0) | 570 (8.0) |
| 2 | 202 233 (28.1) | 5692 (80.3) |
| 3 | 315 031 (43.8) | 760 (10.7) |
| 4 | 161 067 (22.4) | 61 (0.9) |
| 5 | 33 951 (4.7) | 7 (0.1) |
| Arrival time | ||
| 3 am to 6 am | 41 152 (5.7) | 492 (6.9) |
| 7 am to 10 am | 131 979 (18.3) | 668 (9.4) |
| 11 am to 2 pm | 185 870 (25.8) | 1438 (20.3) |
| 3 pm to 6 pm | 167 525 (23.3) | 1707 (24.1) |
| 7 pm to 10 pm | 128 417 (17.9) | 1707 (24.1) |
| 11 pm to 2 am | 64 384 (9.0) | 1078 (15.2) |
| ED visits, mean (SEM) | 3.31 (0.01) | 7.5 (0.27) |
| Hospital admissions, mean (SEM) | 0.83 (0.003) | 1.22 (0.03) |
Abbreviations: ED, emergency department; SEM, standard error of the mean.
a
Data are presented as number (%) of patients unless otherwise indicated. Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding.
b
The “other” group included American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, other Pacific Islander, and unknown categories.
c
Chief concerns and diagnoses were grouped into 5 categories in accordance with prior work regarding use of restraints in the ED.5
d
The Emergency Severity Index is a 5-level ED triage algorithm that provides clinically relevant stratification of patients into 5 groups from 1 (most urgent) to 5 (least urgent) on the basis of acuity and resource needs.