Asthma-Related Emergency Department Visits in North Carolina Following Hurricane Irene

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Kristen N. Cowan ◽  
Audrey F. Pennington ◽  
Kanta Sircar ◽  
W. Dana Flanders
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
North Carolina ◽  
Generalized Linear Model ◽  
Emergency Department Visits ◽  
Hurricane Irene ◽  
Asthma Exacerbations ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Ed Visits ◽  
Disaster Declarations ◽  
Using Data

Abstract Objective: Previous research suggests that people with asthma may experience a worsening of symptoms following hurricanes due to changes in environmental exposures, discontinuity in chronic disease management, and stress. The objective of this study was to estimate changes in asthma-related emergency department (ED) visits in North Carolina following Hurricane Irene, which made landfall in August 2011. Methods: Changes in asthma-related ED visits in September to December of 2010 and 2011 were examined using data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Emergency Department and Inpatient Databases. A Poisson generalized linear model was used to estimate the association between Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster declarations following Hurricane Irene and county-level asthma-related ED visits controlling for month, year, and county. Results: Following Hurricane Irene, disaster declarations were made for 38 of 100 counties in North Carolina. In September 2010, the rate of asthma-related ED visits for North Carolina was 6 per 10,000 person-months. In September 2011, rates of asthma-related ED visits were similar in counties with and without disaster declarations (7 and 5 per 10,000 person-months, respectively). When adjusting for covariates, there was little or no difference in the rate of asthma ED visits before and after the hurricane between counties with and without a disaster declaration (rate ratio {RR} [95% confidence interval {CI}] = 1.02[0.97, 1.08]). Conclusions: Although risk factors for asthma exacerbations increase following hurricanes, these results found little evidence of an increase in asthma-related ED visits in North Carolina following Hurricane Irene.

Abstract 045: Declines In Acute Myocardial Infarction And Stroke Emergency Department Visits Observed During Covid-19 Restrictions In North Carolina

Circulation ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 143 (Suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugenia Wong ◽  
Wayne D Rosamond ◽  
Mehul D Patel ◽  
Anna Waller
Keyword(s):  
Myocardial Infarction ◽  
Acute Myocardial Infarction ◽  
Emergency Department ◽  
North Carolina ◽  
Hospital Admissions ◽  
Emergency Department Visits ◽  
Syndromic Surveillance System ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Ed Visits ◽  
At Home

Introduction: Efforts to control the COVID-19 pandemic brought sweeping social change, with stay-at-home orders and physical distancing mandates in 43 of 50 states by April 2020. Early on, isolated studies around the world described reduced hospital admissions. Reports from some US hospitals also described declines in catheterization laboratory activations, and acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and stroke admissions. However, there have been few population-based analyses of emergency department (ED) visits to verify these initial reports and describe longer term impacts of the pandemic on care seeking behavior. Hypothesis: We hypothesized that AMI and stroke ED visits in North Carolina (NC) would decrease substantially after a statewide stay-at-home order was announced on March 27, 2020. Methods: We analyzed all ED visits from January 5 to August 28, 2020 using data collected by the NC Disease Event Tracking and Epidemiologic Collection Tool, a syndromic surveillance system that automatically gathers ED data in near-real time for all EDs in NC. Counts of AMI and stroke/transient ischemic attack (TIA) were ascertained using ICD-10-CM diagnosis codes. We compared weekly 2020 ED visit data before and after NC’s stay-at-home order, and to 2019 ED visit data. Results: Overall ED volume declined by 44% in the weeks before and after the stay-at-home order ( Figure ) while the prior year’s ED volume stayed steady at ~100,000 visits per week. From January 5 to March 28, there were 593 AMI and 791 stroke/TIA visits per week on average. By April 11, ED visits reached a nadir at 426 AMI and 543 stroke/TIA visits per week, representing a 28% and 31% decrease, respectively. Since June, AMI and stroke/TIA ED visits have rebounded slightly but have yet to reach pre-pandemic levels. Conclusions: We observed swift declines in AMI and stroke/TIA ED visits following NC’s stay-at-home order. These findings potentially reflect the avoidance of medical care due to fears of COVID-19 exposure and may eventually result in higher associated case fatality.

scholarly journals National rates of non-fatal emergency department visits and hospitalisations due to fall-related injuries in older adults 2010–2014 and 2016: transitioning from ICD-9-CM to ICD-10-CM

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (S1) ◽  
pp. i75-i78
Author(s):  
Briana L Moreland ◽  
Elizabeth R Burns ◽  
Yara K Haddad
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
International Classification Of Diseases ◽  
Emergency Department Visits ◽  
Injury Rates ◽  
Fall Injury ◽  
The Us ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Classification Of Diseases ◽  
Icd 10 ◽  
Ed Visits

BackgroundThis study describes rates of non-fatal fall-injury emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalisations before and after the US 2015 transition from the 9th to 10th revision of the International Classification of Diseases, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM to ICD-10-CM).MethodsED visit and hospitalisation data for adults aged 65+ years were obtained from the 2010–2016 Healthcare Cost and Utilisation Project. Differences in fall injury rates between 2010 and 2014 (before transition), and 2014 and 2016 (before and after transition) were analysed using t-tests.ResultsFor ED visits, rates did not differ significantly between 2014 and 2016 (4288 vs 4318 per 100 000, respectively). Hospitalisation rates were lower in 2014 (1232 per 100 000) compared with 2016 (1281 per 100 000).ConclusionIncreased rates of fall-related hospitalisations could be an artefact of the transition or may reflect an increase in the rate of fall-related hospitalisations. Analyses of fall-related hospitalisations across the transition should be interpreted cautiously.

scholarly journals Non-COVID-19 patients in times of pandemic: decreased emergency department visits and increased out-of-hospital mortality in Northern Italy

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca Santi ◽  
Davide Golinelli ◽  
Andrea Tampieri ◽  
Gabriele Farina ◽  
Manfredi Greco ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Hospital Mortality ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Northern Italy ◽  
Emergency Department Visits ◽  
System Response ◽  
Italian Case ◽  
Ed Visits ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Rate Ratios

AbstractObjectiveThe aim of this was to assess the short-term impact of the pandemic on non-COVID-19 patients living in a one-million inhabitants area in Northern Italy (Bologna Metropolitan Area-BMA), analyzing time trends of Emergency Department (ED) visits, hospitalizations and mortality.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective observational study using data extracted from BMA healthcare informative systems. Weekly trends of ED visits, hospitalizations, in- and out-of-hospital, all-cause and cause-specific mortality between December 1st, 2019 to May 31st, 2020, were compared with those of the same period of the previous year, using Joinpoint regression models and incidence rate ratios.ResultsNon-COVID-19 ED visits and hospitalizations showed a stable trend until the first Italian case of COVID-19 has been recorded, on February 19th, 2020, when they dropped simultaneously. The reduction of ED visits was observed in all age groups and across all severity and diagnosis groups. In the lockdown period a significant increase was found in overall out-of-hospital mortality (43.2%) and cause-specific out-of-hospital mortality related to neoplasms (76.7%), endocrine, nutritional and metabolic (79.5%) as well as cardiovascular (32.7%) diseases.ConclusionsThe pandemic caused a sudden drop of ED visits and hospitalizations of non-COVID-19 patients during the lockdown period, and a concurrent increase in out-of-hospital mortality mainly driven by deaths for neoplasms, cardiovascular and endocrine diseases. The findings of this study might be useful to understand both the population reaction and the healthcare system response at the early phases of the pandemic in terms of reduced demand of care and systems capability in intercepting it.

scholarly journals Emergency Department Visits During Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy: A Cohort Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (suppl_1) ◽  
pp. S333-S334
Author(s):  
So Lim Kim ◽  
Angela Everett ◽  
Susan J Rehm ◽  
Steven Gordon ◽  
Nabin Shrestha
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Emergency Department ◽  
Hospital Admission ◽  
Vascular Access ◽  
Antimicrobial Therapy ◽  
Cleveland Clinic ◽  
Emergency Department Visits ◽  
Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy ◽  
Ed Visits ◽  
Access Complications

Abstract Background Outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) carries risk of vascular access complications, antimicrobial adverse effects, and worsening of infection. Both OPAT-related and unrelated events may lead to emergency department (ED) visits. The purpose of this study was to describe adverse events that result in ED visits and risk factors associated with ED visits during OPAT. Methods OPAT courses between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2016 at Cleveland Clinic were identified from the institution’s OPAT registry. ED visits within 30 days of OPAT initiation were reviewed. Reasons and potential risk factors for ED visits were sought in the medical record. Results Among 11,440 OPAT courses during the study period, 603 (5%) were associated with 1 or more ED visits within 30 days of OPAT initiation. Mean patient age was 58 years and 57% were males. 379 ED visits (49%) were OPAT-related; the most common visit reason was vascular access complication, which occurred in 211 (56%) of OPAT-related ED visits. The most common vascular access complications were occlusion and dislodgement, which occurred in 99 and 34 patients (47% and 16% of vascular access complications, respectively). In a multivariable logistic regression model, at least one prior ED visit in the preceding year (prior ED visit) was most strongly associated with one or more ED visits during an OPAT course (OR 2.96, 95% CI 2.38 – 3.71, p-value < 0.001). Other significant factors were younger age (p 0.01), female sex (p 0.01), home county residence (P < 0.001), and having a PICC (p 0.05). 549 ED visits (71%) resulted in discharge from the ED within 24 hours, 18 (2%) left against medical advice, 46 (6%) were observed up to 24 hours, and 150 ED visits (20%) led to hospital admission. Prior ED visit was not associated with hospital admission among patients who visited the ED during OPAT. Conclusion OPAT-related ED visits are most often due to vascular access complications, especially line occlusions. Patients with a prior ED visit in the preceding year have a 3-fold higher odds of at least one ED visit during OPAT compared with patients without a prior ED visit. A strategy of managing occlusions at home and a focus on patients with prior ED visits could potentially prevent a substantial proportion of OPAT-related ED visits. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.

scholarly journals Predictors of Urgent Cancer Care Clinic and Emergency Department Visits for Individuals Diagnosed with Cancer

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 1773-1789
Author(s):  
Kathleen Decker ◽  
Pascal Lambert ◽  
Katie Galloway ◽  
Oliver Bucher ◽  
Marshall Pitz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Mixed Models ◽  
Cancer Care ◽  
Median Number ◽  
Emergency Department Visits ◽  
Planning Service ◽  
Care Clinic ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Acute Complications ◽  
Ed Visits

In 2013, CancerCare Manitoba (CCMB) launched an urgent cancer care clinic (UCC) to meet the needs of individuals diagnosed with cancer experiencing acute complications of cancer or its treatment. This retrospective cohort study compared the characteristics of individuals diagnosed with cancer that visited the UCC to those who visited an emergency department (ED) and determined predictors of use. Multivariable logistic mixed models were run to predict an individual’s likelihood of visiting the UCC or an ED. Scaled Brier scores were calculated to determine how greatly each predictor impacted UCC or ED use. We found that UCC visits increased up to 4 months after eligibility to visit and then decreased. ED visits were highest immediately after eligibility and then decreased. The median number of hours between triage and discharge was 2 h for UCC visits and 9 h for ED visits. Chemotherapy had the strongest association with UCC visits, whereas ED visits prior to diagnosis had the strongest association with ED visits. Variables related to socioeconomic status were less strongly associated with UCC or ED visits. Future studies would be beneficial to planning service delivery and improving clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction.

scholarly journals Internet search and medicaid prescription drug data as predictors of opioid emergency department visits

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean D. Young ◽  
Qingpeng Zhang ◽  
Jiandong Zhou ◽  
Rosalie Liccardo Pacula
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Prescription Drug ◽  
Drug Utilization ◽  
Prediction Models ◽  
Emergency Department Visits ◽  
Treatment Preferences ◽  
Internet Search ◽  
Utilization Data ◽  
Ed Visits ◽  
Medicaid Prescription

AbstractThe primary contributors to the opioid crisis continue to rapidly evolve both geographically and temporally, hampering the ability to halt the growing epidemic. To address this issue, we evaluated whether integration of near real-time social/behavioral (i.e., Google Trends) and traditional health care (i.e., Medicaid prescription drug utilization) data might predict geographic and longitudinal trends in opioid-related Emergency Department (ED) visits. From January 2005 through December 2015, we collected quarterly State Drug Utilization Data; opioid-related internet search terms/phrases; and opioid-related ED visit data. Modeling was conducted using least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression prediction. Models combining Google and Medicaid variables were a better fit and more accurate (R2 values from 0.913 to 0.960, across states) than models using either data source alone. The combined model predicted sharp and state-specific changes in ED visits during the post 2013 transition from heroin to fentanyl. Models integrating internet search and drug utilization data might inform policy efforts about regional medical treatment preferences and needs.

scholarly journals Interrupted time series design to evaluate ICD-9-CM to ICD-10-CM coding changes on trends in Colorado emergency department visits related to traumatic brain injury

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren Alexis De Crescenzo ◽  
Barbara Alison Gabella ◽  
Jewell Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Traumatic Brain Injury ◽  
Emergency Department ◽  
Brain Injury ◽  
Interrupted Time Series ◽  
Emergency Department Visits ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
Icd 10 ◽  
Ed Visits ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background The transition in 2015 to the Tenth Revision of the International Classification of Disease, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) in the US led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to propose a surveillance definition of traumatic brain injury (TBI) utilizing ICD-10-CM codes. The CDC’s proposed surveillance definition excludes “unspecified injury of the head,” previously included in the ICD-9-CM TBI surveillance definition. The study purpose was to evaluate the impact of the TBI surveillance definition change on monthly rates of TBI-related emergency department (ED) visits in Colorado from 2012 to 2017. Results The monthly rate of TBI-related ED visits was 55.6 visits per 100,000 persons in January 2012. This rate in the transition month to ICD-10-CM (October 2015) decreased by 41 visits per 100,000 persons (p-value < 0.0001), compared to September 2015, and remained low through December 2017, due to the exclusion of “unspecified injury of head” (ICD-10-CM code S09.90) in the proposed TBI definition. The average increase in the rate was 0.33 visits per month (p < 0.01) prior to October 2015, and 0.04 visits after. When S09.90 was included in the model, the monthly TBI rate in Colorado remained smooth from ICD-9-CM to ICD-10-CM and the transition was no longer significant (p = 0.97). Conclusion The reduction in the monthly TBI-related ED visit rate resulted from the CDC TBI surveillance definition excluding unspecified head injury, not necessarily the coding transition itself. Public health practitioners should be aware that the definition change could lead to a drastic reduction in the magnitude and trend of TBI-related ED visits, which could affect decisions regarding the allocation of TBI resources. This study highlights a challenge in creating a standardized set of TBI ICD-10-CM codes for public health surveillance that provides comparable yet clinically relevant estimates that span the ICD transition.

scholarly journals Predicting emergency department visits in a large teaching hospital

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan Singh Erkamp ◽  
Dirk Hendrikus van Dalen ◽  
Esther de Vries
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Teaching Hospital ◽  
Time Trend ◽  
Prediction Models ◽  
Emergency Department Visits ◽  
Weather Data ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Weather Variables ◽  
Ed Visits

Abstract Background Emergency department (ED) visits show a high volatility over time. Therefore, EDs are likely to be crowded at peak-volume moments. ED crowding is a widely reported problem with negative consequences for patients as well as staff. Previous studies on the predictive value of weather variables on ED visits show conflicting results. Also, no such studies were performed in the Netherlands. Therefore, we evaluated prediction models for the number of ED visits in our large the Netherlands teaching hospital based on calendar and weather variables as potential predictors. Methods Data on all ED visits from June 2016 until December 31, 2019, were extracted. The 2016–2018 data were used as training set, the 2019 data as test set. Weather data were extracted from three publicly available datasets from the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute. Weather observations in proximity of the hospital were used to predict the weather in the hospital’s catchment area by applying the inverse distance weighting interpolation method. The predictability of daily ED visits was examined by creating linear prediction models using stepwise selection; the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) was used as measurement of fit. Results The number of daily ED visits shows a positive time trend and a large impact of calendar events (higher on Mondays and Fridays, lower on Saturdays and Sundays, higher at special times such as carnival, lower in holidays falling on Monday through Saturday, and summer vacation). The weather itself was a better predictor than weather volatility, but only showed a small effect; the calendar-only prediction model had very similar coefficients to the calendar+weather model for the days of the week, time trend, and special time periods (both MAPE’s were 8.7%). Conclusions Because of this similar performance, and the inaccuracy caused by weather forecasts, we decided the calendar-only model would be most useful in our hospital; it can probably be transferred for use in EDs of the same size and in a similar region. However, the variability in ED visits is considerable. Therefore, one should always anticipate potential unforeseen spikes and dips in ED visits that are not shown by the model.

scholarly journals Prevalence and direct costs of emergency department visits and hospitalizations for selected diseases that can be transmitted by water, United States

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 673-683 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. A. Adam ◽  
S. A. Collier ◽  
K. E. Fullerton ◽  
J. W. Gargano ◽  
M. J. Beach
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Otitis Externa ◽  
Hepatitis A Virus ◽  
Direct Costs ◽  
Emergency Department Visits ◽  
Escherichia Coli Infection ◽  
Waterborne Transmission ◽  
Ed Visits ◽  
National Emergency ◽  
Attribution Process

National emergency department (ED) visit prevalence and costs for selected diseases that can be transmitted by water were estimated using large healthcare databases (acute otitis externa, campylobacteriosis, cryptosporidiosis, Escherichia coli infection, free-living ameba infection, giardiasis, hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection, Legionnaires’ disease, nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) infection, Pseudomonas-related pneumonia or septicemia, salmonellosis, shigellosis, and vibriosis or cholera). An estimated 477,000 annual ED visits (95% CI: 459,000–494,000) were documented, with 21% (n = 101,000, 95% CI: 97,000–105,000) resulting in immediate hospital admission. The remaining 376,000 annual treat-and-release ED visits (95% CI: 361,000–390,000) resulted in $194 million in annual direct costs. Most treat-and-release ED visits (97%) and costs ($178 million/year) were associated with acute otitis externa. HAV ($5.5 million), NTM ($2.3 million), and salmonellosis ($2.2 million) were associated with next highest total costs. Cryptosporidiosis ($2,035), campylobacteriosis ($1,783), and NTM ($1,709) had the highest mean costs per treat-and-release ED visit. Overall, the annual hospitalization and treat-and-release ED visit costs associated with the selected diseases totaled $3.8 billion. As most of these diseases are not solely transmitted by water, an attribution process is needed as a next step to determine the proportion of these visits and costs attributable to waterborne transmission.

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