@article{ref1,
title="US emergency department visits for alcohol-related diseases and injuries between 1992 and 2000",
journal="Archives of internal medicine",
year="2004",
author="McDonald, Alden J. and Wang, Nan and Camargo, Carlos A.",
volume="164",
number="5",
pages="531-537",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Alcohol-related diseases and injuries pose a significant burden on hospital emergency departments (EDs). Recognized limitations of self-reported data suggest that previous single-year national studies may have underestimated the magnitude of this burden. METHODS: Data were obtained from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey for 1992 through 2000. Thirty-seven alcohol-related diagnoses and their corresponding alcohol-attributable fractions (AAFs) were used to estimate the number of ED visits attributable to alcohol. Diagnoses with an AAF of 1 were analyzed by age, sex, and race. Disposition to inpatient settings and alcohol screening also were examined. RESULTS: During these 9 years, there were an estimated 68.6 million (95% confidence interval [CI], 65.6 million to 71.7 million) ED visits attributable to alcohol, a rate of 28.7 (95% CI, 27.1-30.3) per 1000 US population. The number of alcohol-related visits increased 18% during this period. Visit rates for diagnoses with AAFs of 1 were highest for those who were aged 30 through 49 years, male, and black. From 1992 to 2000, these disparities remained stable for age group but significantly changed for sex (+22%) and race (-76%). Most patients with diagnoses with AAFs of 1 were not admitted to an inpatient unit, and the percentage of patients who underwent blood alcohol concentration testing was substantially lower than corresponding AAFs. CONCLUSIONS: Alcohol-related ED visits are approximately 3 times higher than previous estimates determined by physician documentation or patient disclosure of alcohol involvement. Rising trends, changing disparities, and suboptimal ED management of such visits are a call to action.<p /><p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0003-9926",
doi="10.1001/archinte.164.5.531",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archinte.164.5.531"
}