Dependence on Emergency Care among Young Adults in the United States

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND Young adults have a high prevalence of many preventable diseases and frequently lack a usual source of ambulatory care, yet little is known about their use of the emergency department. OBJECTIVE To characterize care provided to young adults in the emergency department. DESIGN, SE...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of general internal medicine : JGIM 2010-07, Vol.25 (7), p.663-669
Main Authors: Fortuna, Robert J., Robbins, Brett W., Mani, Nandini, Halterman, Jill S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Age Factors
Ambulatory care
Ambulatory Care - trends
Ambulatory Care - utilization
Biological and medical sciences
Cross-Sectional Studies
Emergency medical care
Emergency Medical Services - trends
Female
General aspects
Health Care Surveys - trends
Humans
Internal Medicine
Male
Medical sciences
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Original
Original Article
Outpatient Clinics, Hospital - trends
Outpatient Clinics, Hospital - utilization
United States - epidemiology
Young Adult
Young adults
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Summary:ABSTRACT BACKGROUND Young adults have a high prevalence of many preventable diseases and frequently lack a usual source of ambulatory care, yet little is known about their use of the emergency department. OBJECTIVE To characterize care provided to young adults in the emergency department. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Cross-sectional analysis of visits from young adults age 20 to 29 presenting to emergency departments (N = 17,048) and outpatient departments (N = 14,443) in the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey and National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey. MAIN MEASURES Visits to the emergency department compared to ambulatory offices. RESULTS Emergency department care accounts for 21.6% of all health care visits from young adults, more than children/adolescents (12.6%; P  
ISSN:0884-8734
1525-1497
DOI:10.1007/s11606-010-1313-1