Table 2.
Patient, visit, and practice characteristics of adult cough-related ED visits by medication type: 2003–2018 NHAMCS (weighted-estimate of 155.5 million).
| Characteristics | Opioid Antitussives | Benzonatate | Dextromethorphan a | Opioid Analgesics | Mean ASD b |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9.7 Million (6.2%) | 7.5 Million (4.8%) | 2.9 Million (1.9%) | 22.7 Million (14.6%) | ||
| Weighted% | Weighted% | Weighted% | Weighted% | ||
| Patient Characteristics | |||||
| Age ≥ 65 years | 10.6 | 10.8 | 10.5 | 15.4 | 0.07 |
| Female | 63.2 | 65.8 | 62.1 | 63.0 | 0.03 |
| Race | 0.13 | ||||
| White | 71.3 | 68.0 | 59.1 | 72.7 | |
| Non-White | 28.7 | 32.0 | 40.9 | 27.3 | |
| Visit Characteristics | |||||
| Payment source c | 0.10 | ||||
| Governmental | 37.8 | 40.2 | 40.7 | 46.1 | |
| Commercial | 31.9 | 31.5 | 26.6 | 27.8 | |
| Others | 28.6 | 27.7 | 31.5 | 24.5 | |
| ≥2 Chronic Conditions d |
24.9 | 26.5 | 27.8 | 31.9 | 0.08 |
| Top 3 major reasons-for-visit |
|||||
| Cough 66.5 |
Cough 68.3 |
Cough 61.0 |
Cough 35.3 |
||
| Throat symptoms 17.8 |
Throat symptoms 18.1 |
Throat symptoms 21.3 |
Throat symptoms 16.8 |
||
| Fever 15.9 |
Nasal congestion 17.7 |
Nasal congestion 20.7 |
Shortness of breath 15.0 |
||
| Top 3 major diagnoses |
|||||
| Bronchitis 44.6 |
Bronchitis 40.9 |
Acute URTI 37.0 |
Acute URTI 28.4 |
||
| Acute URTI 28.8 |
Acute URTI 33.3 |
Bronchitis 34.5 |
Bronchitis 24.7 |
||
| Cough 14.4 |
Cough 23.1 |
Cough 16.3 |
Pneumonia 18.6 |
||
| Practice Characteristics | |||||
| Geographic region | 0.21 | ||||
| Northeast | 12.8 | 16.0 | 9.5 | 10.0 | |
| Midwest | 20.0 | 23.0 | 19.8 | 22.6 | |
| South | 51.3 | 47.8 | 54.3 | 42.2 | |
| West | 15.9 | 13.2 | 16.4 | 25.2 | |
| Metropolitan area e | 77.8 | 83.2 | 78.2 | 86.2 | 0.13 |
Abbreviations: NHAMCS: National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey; ASD: absolute standardized difference; URTI: upper respiratory tract infections. a Dextromethorphan indicates dextromethorphan-containing antitussives. b ASD > 0.1 was considered as having non-negligible differences. Represented the mean ASD across the six ASDs from all possible two-pairs group comparisons (e.g., opioid antitussives vs. benzonatate). c The percentage of missingness for payment source among cough-related ED visits involving four medication groups were ≤1.7% from 2003 to 2018. Others include all other types of insurance, uninsured, and unknown. d The number of chronic conditions was available since 2012. The percentage of missingness for the variable of ≥2 chronic conditions among cough-related ED visits involving four medication groups were ≤1.1% from 2012 to 2018. e The metropolitan area was unavailable in NHAMCS in 2012.