Hospital-based emergency department visits with herpetic gingivostomatitis in the United States

• Published in: Oral surgery, oral medicine, oral pathology and oral radiology oral medicine, oral pathology and oral radiology, 2012-04, Vol.113 (4), p.505-511
• Main Authors: Elangovan, Satheesh, BDS, DSc, DMSc, Karimbux, Nadeem Y., DMD, MMSc, Srinivasan, Sreedevi, BDS, DSc, Venugopalan, Shankar R., BDS, PhD, Eswaran, Sridhar V.K., BDS, MS, Allareddy, Veerasathpurush, BDS, MBA, MHA, MMSc, PhD
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Comorbidity; Databases, Factual; Dentistry; Emergency Service, Hospital - economics; Emergency Service, Hospital - statistics & numerical data; Emergency Service, Hospital - utilization; Facial bones, jaws, teeth, parodontium: diseases, semeiology; Female; Health Care Surveys; Herpesvirus 1, Human; Human viral diseases; Humans; Infectious diseases; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Non tumoral diseases; Otorhinolaryngology. Stomatology; Social Class; Stomatitis, Herpetic - epidemiology; Stomatitis, Herpetic - therapy; Stomatitis, Herpetic - virology; Surgery; United States - epidemiology; Viral diseases; Viral diseases with cutaneous or mucosal lesions and viral diseases of the eye; Young Adult
• ISSN: 2212-4403; 2212-4411
• DOI: 10.1016/j.oooo.2011.09.014

Objectives The objectives of this study were to determine the number of hospital emergency department (ED) visits with a diagnosis of herpetic gingivostomatitis (HGS) for 2007 in the United States and to identify the possible comorbid conditions associated with HGS. Study Design The Nationwide Emergency Department Sample for 2007 was used in this study. Patients who visited the ED with a diagnosis of HGS were selected. Estimates were projected to the national levels using the discharge weights. Presence of comorbid conditions in these patients was also analyzed. Results A total of 23,124 patients had ED visits and received the diagnosis of HGS. Most of the patients were young females and those belonging to the lower socioeconomic strata. All patients with HGS also presented with comorbid conditions. Conclusions Physicians should be trained to diagnose, manage, and refer common dental emergencies. In the long term, improving access to dental care for these patients is crucial to managing this problem.