Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of patients presenting to the emergency department, stratified by alcohol/drugs substance use disorder, *NHAMCS 2016–2017(unweighted sample).
| All | DUD only | AUD only | SUD (DUD or AUD) | No SUD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27,609 | 2,668(9.7) | 1,265(4.6) | 3,282(11.9) | 24,327(88.1) | |
| Male | 2,031(43.6) | 1,519(56.9)** | 870(68.8)** | 1,926(58.7)** | 10,105(41.5) |
| Age | ** | ** | ** | ||
| 18–25 | 3,978(14.4) | 402(15.1) | 106(8.4) | 449(13.7) | 3,529(14.5) |
| 26–39 | 7,598(27.5) | 884(33.1) | 300(23.7) | 1,025(31.2) | 6,573(27.0) |
| 40–49 | 4,237(15.4) | 505(18.9) | 243(19.2) | 624(19.0) | 3,613(14.9) |
| 50–59 | 4,338(15.7) | 531(19.9) | 384(30.4) | 705(21.5) | 3,633(14.9) |
| 60–74 | 4,496(16.3) | 293(11.0) | 210(16.6) | 408(12.4) | 4,088(16.8) |
| ≥ 75 | 2,962(10.7) | 53(2.0) | 22(1.7) | 71(2.2) | 2,891(11.9) |
| Race/ethnicity | ** | * | ** | ||
| NH White | 12,731(60.3) | 1,226(63.2) | 544(58.0) | 1,494(62.5) | 11,237(60.0) |
| H White | 1,550(7.3) | 102(5.3) | 61(6.5) | 137(5.7) | 1,413(7.5) |
| NH Black | 4,796(22.7) | 450(23.2) | 233(24.8) | 557(23.3) | 4,239(22.6) |
| H Black | 70(0.3) | 9(0.5) | 4(0.4) | 11(0.5) | 59(0.3) |
| Hispanic (Other) | 1,096(5.2) | 81(4.2) | 61(6.5) | 109(4.6) | 987(5.3) |
| Asian | 548(2.6) | 27(1.4) | 15(1.6) | 33(1.4) | 515(2.8) |
| Other | 325(1.5) | 45(2.3) | 20(2.1) | 51(2.1) | 274(1.5) |
| Residence type | ** | ** | ** | ||
| Private residence | 25,607(94.7) | 2,303(89.0) | 1,029(84.7) | 2,829(88.8) | 22,778(95.5) |
| Nursing home | 506(1.9) | 10(0.4) | 12(1.0) | 19(0.6) | 487(2.0) |
| Homeless | 485(1.8) | 209(8.1) | 138(11.4) | 256(8.0) | 229(1.0) |
| Other | 434(1.6) | 66(2.6) | 36(3.0) | 83(2.6) | 351(1.5) |
| Insurance type | ** | ** | ** | ||
| Private insurance | 7,380(29.3) | 521(21.6) | 225(20.2) | 635(21.6) | 6,745(30.4) |
| Medicare | 6,499(25.8) | 366(15.2) | 205(18.4) | 494(16.8) | 6,005(27.0) |
| Medicaid or CHIP | 7,916(31.5) | 1,153(47.9) | 521(46.8) | 1,377(46.7) | 6,539(29.4) |
| Uninsured | 2,482(9.9) | 284(11.8) | 123(11.0) | 335(11.4) | 2,147(9.7) |
| Other | 889(3.5) | 85(3.5) | 40(3.6) | 105(3.6) | 784(3.5) |
| Day of ED visit | ** | ** | ** | ||
| Weekend | 7,277(26.4) | 736(27.6) | 368(29.1) | 907(27.6) | 6,370(26.2) |
| Weekdays | 20,332(73.6) | 1,932(72.4) | 897(70.9) | 2,375(72.4) | 17,957(73.8) |
| Arrive by ambulance | 5074(18.9) | 756(28.9)** | 596(48.3)** | 1,034(32.2)** | 4,040(17.1) |
| Seen within last 72 hours | 870(3.4) | 121(4.9)** | 73(6.2)** | 157(5.2)** | 713(3.2) |
| Pain level at presentation | ** | ** | ** | ||
| No pain | 4,831(24.8) | 517(29.3) | 333(41.7) | 666(30.7) | 4,165(24.0) |
| Mild | 1,868(9.6) | 120(6.8) | 58(7.3) | 156(7.2) | 1,712(9.9) |
| Moderate | 6,019(30.8) | 476(27.0) | 180(22.5) | 576(26.6) | 5,443(31.4) |
| Severe | 6,801(34.8) | 653(37.0) | 228(28.5) | 770(35.5) | 6,031(34.8) |
| Temperature at presentation | 36.8(0.4) | 36.7(0.4) | 36.7(0.4) | 36.7(0.4) | 36.8(0.4) |
| Heart rate at presentation | 85.9(17.5) | 89.6(17.6) | 91.9(18.7) | 90.1(18.0) | 85.3(17.4) |
| DBP at presentation | 80.4(14.7) | 82.0(14.7) | 82.7(15.1) | 82.2(14.9) | 80.1(14.6) |
| SBP at presentation | 137.4(23.6) | 134.9(21.7) | 134.1(22.2) | 135.0(22.0) | 137.7(23.8) |
| Census region | |||||
| Northeast | 4,503(16.3) | 388(14.5) | 265(20.9) | 507(15.4) | 3,996(16.4) |
| Midwest | 6,756(24.5) | 814(30.5) | 253(20.0) | 940(28.6) | 5,816(23.9) |
| South | 9,720(35.2) | 835(31.3) | 343(27.1) | 1,004(30.6) | 8,716(35.8) |
| West | 6,630(24.0) | 631(23.7) | 404(31.9) | 831(25.3) | 5,799(23.8) |
| Visit related to injury | 8,493(30.8) | 910(34.1)** | 575(45.5)** | 1,192(36.3)** | 7,301(30.0) |
NHAMCS, National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey.
Note: the missing proportion for residency type and arriving by ambulance is less than 5%; for insurance, temperature and seen within 72h, 5% – 10 %; for race/ethnicity, 20% – 25%; for pain level, 29%; Independent test was performed on categories of drug use disorder (DUD), alcohol use disorder (AUD), and drug or alcohol use disorder (SUD). Pearson’s chi-squared test was performed on unweighted samples, and Rao-Scott corrected chi-squared test was performed on weighted samples.
P < 0.05,
P < 0.01,
NH, non-Hispanic; H, Hispanic.
CHIP, Children’s Health Insurance Program; ED, emergency department; DUD, drug use disorder; AUD, alcohol use disorder; SUD, drug or alcohol use disorder; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; SBP, systolic blood pressure.