Table 4.
Proportion of Emergency Severity Index, hospital admission, ICU admission, medical resources utilization, stratified by alcohol/drugs substance use disorder, *NHAMCS 2016–2017.
| All | DUD Only | AUD Only | SUD (DID or AUD) | No SUD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ESI score | ** | ** | ** | ||
| 1 (Immediate) | 189(1.0) | 20(1.0) | 10(1.1) | 21(0.9) | 168(1.0) |
| 2 (Emergent) | 2,621(13.1) | 348(17.8) | 199(21.7) | 439(18.3) | 2,182(12.4) |
| 3 (Urgent) | 10,134(50.8) | 999(51.1) | 495(54.0) | 1,231(51.2) | 8,903(50.7) |
| 4 (Semi-urgent) | 6,046(30.3) | 513(26.2) | 181(19.8) | 619(25.8) | 5,427(30.9) |
| 5 (Non-urgent) | 959(4.8) | 75(3.8) | 31(3.4) | 92(3.8) | 867(4.9) |
| Hospital admission | 3,854(14.0) | 443(16.6)** | 281(22.2)** | 589(17.9)** | 3,265(13.4) |
| ICU | 469(1.7) | 56(2.1) | 37(2.9)** | 74(2.3)** | 395(1.6) |
| Death in ED or hospital | 2857(10.4) | 289(10.8) | 192(15.2)** | 395(12.0)** | 2,462(10.1) |
| Left before/after triage | 774(2.8) | 88(3.3) | 53(4.2)** | 113(3.4)* | 661(2.7) |
| Blood test performed | 15,082(54.6) | 1,610(60.3)** | 924(73.0)** | 2,054(62.6)** | 13,028(53.6) |
| Any imaging performed | 14,496(52.5) | 1,181(44.3)** | 578(45.7)** | 1,505(45.9)** | 12,991(53.4) |
| Radiograph in ED | 9,805(35.5) | 843(31.6)** | 380(30.0)** | 1,057(32.2)** | 8,748(36.0) |
| CT in ED | 5,737(20.8) | 481(18.0)* | 310(24.5)** | 650(19.8) | 5,087(20.9) |
| Ultrasound in ED | 1,653(6.0) | 107(4.0)** | 47(3.7)** | 136(4.1)** | 1,517(6.2) |
| MRI in ED | 307(1.1) | 21(0.8) | 6(0.5)* | 25(0.8)* | 282(1.2) |
| Other Imaging in ED | 359(1.3) | 30(1.1) | 11(0.9) | 36(1.1) | 323(1.3) |
| Procedure | 13,448(48.7) | 1,254(47.0)* | 591(46.7) | 1,561(47.6) | 11,887(48.9) |
NHAMCS, National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey.
Note: The missing proportion for waiting time is 15%, for ESI score is 28%. “Waiting time” refers to the time from arrival to seeing the physician
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
DUD, drug use disorder; SUD, substance use disorder; AUD, alcohol use disorder; ESI, Emergency Severity Index; ICU, intensive care unit; ED, emergency department; CT, computed tomography; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging.