QuickStats: Rate of Emergency Department Visits*,† for Substance Use Disorders§ Among Adults Aged ≥18 Years, by Age Group — National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, United States, 2018–2019 and 2020–2021
Weekly / September 29, 2023 / 72(39);1073
* Number of visits per 10,000 population, based on estimates of the civilian, noninstitutionalized population developed by the U.S. Census Bureau, which reflect the population as of July 1 each year; with 95% CIs indicated by error bars.
† Based on a sample of visits to emergency departments in noninstitutional general and short-stay hospitals, exclusive of federal, military, and Veterans Administration hospitals, located in the 50 states and District of Columbia.
§ Emergency department visits with diagnosed mental and behavioral disorders attributed to psychoactive substance use were identified using International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification codes F10–F19.
The rate of emergency department visits with a primary diagnosis of a substance use disorder among adults increased from 74.4 per 10,000 population during 2018–2019 to 103.8 during 2020–2021. Between these two periods, this rate increased 42% among patients aged 18–34 years (from 86.1 to 122.5) and 38% among patients aged ≥35 years (from 69.5 to 96.1). During both 2018–2019 and 2020–2021, adults aged 18–34 years were more likely to visit an emergency department for substance abuse, use, or dependence than were those aged ≥35 years.
Source: National Center for Health Statistics, National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, 2018–2021. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/ahcd/index.htm
Reported by: Adaeze O’Jiaku-Okorie, MPH, pmz3@cdc.gov; Xianghua Yin, PhD, MD; Christine Lucas, PhD.
For more information on this topic, CDC recommends the following link: https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/featured-topics/substance-use-disorders/
Suggested citation for this article: QuickStats: Rate of Emergency Department Visits for Substance Use Disorders Among Adults Aged ≥18 Years, by Age Group — National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, United States, 2018–2019 and 2020–2021. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2023;72:1073. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7239a6.
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