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US national estimation of emergency department utilization by patients given ‘HIV/AIDS‐related illness’ as their primary diagnosis
Author(s) -
Shih TY,
Chen KF,
Rothman RE,
Hsieh YH
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
hiv medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.53
H-Index - 79
eISSN - 1468-1293
pISSN - 1464-2662
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-1293.2010.00888.x
Subject(s) - medicine , emergency department , confidence interval , ambulatory , odds ratio , epidemiology , emergency medicine , primary care , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , ambulatory care , pediatrics , family medicine , health care , psychiatry , economics , economic growth
Background The emergency department (ED) is one of the most frequent sources of medical care for many HIV‐infected individuals. However, the characteristics and ED utilization patterns of patients with HIV/AIDS‐related illness as the primary ED diagnosis (HRIPD) are unknown. Methods We identified the ED utilization patterns of HRIPD visits from a weighted sample of US ED visits (1993–2005) using the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, a nationally representative survey. Data on visits by patients≥18 years old were analysed using procedures for multiple‐stage survey data. We compared the utilization patterns of HRIPD vs . non‐HRIPD visits, and patterns across three periods (1993–1996, 1997–2000 and 2001–2005) to take into account changes in HIV epidemiology. Results Overall, 492 000 HRIPD visits were estimated to have occurred from 1993 to 2005, corresponding to 5‐in‐10 000 ED visits. HRIPD visits experienced longer durations of stay (5.2 h vs . 3.4 h; P =0.001), received more diagnostic tests (5.1 vs . 3.3; P <0.001), were prescribed more medications (2.5 vs . 1.8; P <0.001) and were more frequently seen by physicians (99.5% vs . 93.8%; P <0.001) compared with non‐HRIPD visits. HRIPD visits were more likely to result in admission [adjusted odds ratio (OR) 7.67; 95% confidence interval (CI) 5.14–11.44]. The proportion of HRIPD visits that required emergent/urgent care or were seen by attending physicians, and the number of diagnostic tests ordered, significantly increased over time ( P <0.05), while the wait time ( P =0.003) significantly decreased between the second and third study periods ( P <0.05). Conclusions Although HRIPD visits were infrequent relative to all ED visits, HRIPD visits utilized significantly more resources than non‐HRIPD visits and the utilization also increased over time.