Table 1.
Characteristics of people with (1) frequent ED visits (top 10%) and substance use; (2) frequent ED visits (top 10%) and no substance use; and (3) non-frequent ED visits (bottom 90%) and substance use in Ontario, Alberta, and B.C. (April 1st, 2014 to March 31st, 2015)
| Characteristics | Ontario | Alberta | B.C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of patients with at least one ED visit | 2,572,057 | 841,346 | 643,000 |
| Number of people with frequent ED visits (top 10%) | 467,223 | 106,381 | 97,120 |
| (1) Number of people with frequent ED visits (top 10%) and substance use | 19,604 | 7,706 | 9,404 |
| Sex, n (%) | |||
| Male | 12,115 (61.8) | 4,695 (60.9) | 5,922 (63.0) |
| Female | 7,489 (38.2) | 3,011 (39.1) | 3,482 (37.0) |
| Age at year end (years) | |||
| Median (IQR) | 40 (27–53) | 37 (27–50) | 43 (30–55) |
| Urban/rural residence, n (%) | |||
| Rural | 2,760 (14.1) | 2,032 (26.4) | 470 (5.0) |
| Urban | 15,985 (81.5) | 5,001 (64.9) | 8,862 (94.2) |
| NA | 859 (4.4) | 673 (8.7) | 72 (0.8) |
| Neighborhood income quintile, n (%) | |||
| 1st Quintile | 5,094 (26.0) | 2,822 (36.6) | 3,677 (39.1) |
| 2nd Quintile | 3,993 (20.4) | 1,045 (13.6) | 1,811 (19.3) |
| 3rd Quintile | 3,326 (17.0) | 1,469 (19.1) | 1,478 (15.7) |
| 4th Quintile | 3,045 (15.5) | 781 (10.1) | 1,195 (12.7) |
| 5th Quintile | 3,131 (16.0) | 708 (9.2) | 925 (9.8) |
| Unknown | 156 (0.8) | 208 (2.7) | 245 (2.6) |
| Total number of ED visits | 153,763 | 71,835 | 63,809 |
| Number of ED visits per patient | |||
| Median (IQR) | 5 (3–8) | 6 (5–10) | 5 (3–7) |
| Total number of admissions | 17,547 | 10,555 | 15,245 |
| Number of patients with at least one admission, n (%) | 8,292 (42.3) | 4,575 (59.4) | 6,161 (65.5) |
| (2) Number of people with frequent ED visits (top 10%) and no substance use | 447,619 (100) | 98,675 (100) | 87,716 (100) |
| Sex, n (%) | |||
| Male | 194,507 (43.5) | 43,433 (44.0) | 39,539 (45.1) |
| Female | 253,110 (56.5) | 55,242 (56.0) | 48,157 (54.9) |
| Unknown | 2 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 20 (0.0) |
| Age at year end (years) | |||
| Median (IQR) | 52 (33–70) | 46 (30–64) | 56 (36–74) |
| Urban/rural residence, n (%) | |||
| Rural | 94,310 (21.1) | 34,519 (35.0) | 3,505 (4.0) |
| Urban | 352,038 (78.6) | 63,369 (64.2) | 82,323 (93.9) |
| NA | 1,271 (0.3) | 787 (0.8) | 1,888 (2.2) |
| Neighborhood income quintile, n (%) | |||
| 1st Quintile | 100,949 (22.6) | 38,638 (39.2) | 22,801 (26.0) |
| 2nd Quintile | 95,055 (21.2) | 13,456 (13.6) | 18,591 (21.2) |
| 3rd Quintile | 78,814 (17.6) | 19,859 (20.1) | 16,413 (18.7) |
| 4th Quintile | 84,536 (18.9) | 13,020 (13.2) | 15,310 (17.5) |
| 5th Quintile | 85,691 (19.1) | 10,488 (10.6) | 13,175 (15.0) |
| Unknown | 2,574 (0.6) | 3,214 (3.3) | 1,426 (1.6) |
| Total number of ED visits | 1,996,495 | 632,736 | 379,037 |
| Number of ED visits per patient | |||
| Median (IQR) | 4 (3–5) | 5 (4–7) | 3 (3–5) |
| Total number of admissions | 267,415 | 63,082 | 77,379 |
| Number of patients with at least one admission | 146,047 (32.6) | 33,454 (33.9) | 38,836 (44.3) |
| (3) Number of people with non-frequent ED visits (bottom 90%) and substance use | 6,088 (100) | 2,742 (100) | 12,967 (100) |
| Sex, n (%) | |||
| Male | 3,895 (64.0) | 1,717 (62.6) | 8164 (63.0) |
| Female | 2,192 (36.0) | 1,025 (37.4) | 4802 (37.0) |
| Unknown | 1 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | < 5 (0.0) |
| Age at year end (years) | |||
| Median (IQR) | 37 (23–53) | 36 (24–51) | 43 (29–56) |
| Urban/rural residence, n (%) | |||
| Rural | 755 (12.4) | 456 (16.6) | 836 (6.4) |
| Urban | 5,165 (84.8) | 2,203 (80.3) | 11,060 (85.3) |
| NA | 168 (2.8) | 83 (3.0) | 1,071 (8.3) |
| Neighborhood income quintile, n (%) | |||
| 1st Quintile | 1,349 (22.2) | 802 (29.2) | 3,915 (30.2) |
| 2nd Quintile | 1,297 (21.3) | 466 (17.0) | 2,623 (20.2) |
| 3rd Quintile | 1,047 (17.2) | 605 (22.1) | 2,229 (17.2) |
| 4th Quintile | 1,083 (17.8) | 374 (13.6) | 2,036 (15.7) |
| 5th Quintile | 1,075 (17.7) | 351 (12.8) | 1,744 (13.4) |
| Unknown | 237 (3.9) | 144 (5.3) | 420 (3) |
| Total number of ED visits | 9,903 | 15,328 | 17,643 |
| Number of ED visits per patient | |||
| Median (IQR) | 1 (1–2) | 1 (1–4) | 1 (1–2) |
| Total number of admissions | 1,844 | 1,521 | 8,050 |
| Number of patients with at least one admission | 1,568 (25.8) | 1,117 (40.7) | 5,323 (41.1) |