QuickStats: Percentage* of Adults Aged 18–64 Years with Two or More Visits to the Emergency Department† in the Past 12 Months, by Health Insurance Coverage Status,§ and Race/Ethnicity¶ — National Health Interview Survey,** 2014

Weekly / February 26, 2016 / 65(7);192

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The bar chart above shows that in 2014 11.4% of non-Hispanic black adults aged 18–64 years used the emergency room two or more times in the past 12 months and this was a greater percentage than both non-Hispanic whites (6.1%) and Hispanic (5.6%) adults. It also shows that among each race group, those that had Medicaid health coverage were more likely than those with private insurance or the uninsured to have had two or more emergency room visits in the past 12 months.

* With 95% confidence intervals.

† Based on a response to the survey question “During the past 12 months, how many times have you gone to a hospital emergency room about your own health? (This includes emergency room visits that resulted in a hospital admission.)”

§ Health insurance coverage is based on the status at the time of interview. Private includes plans obtained through an employer, purchased directly, through local or community programs, through the Health Insurance Marketplace, or a state-based exchange. Medicaid includes those without private insurance who reported Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program, or other state-sponsored health plans. Uninsured includes those without any private health insurance, Medicaid, Medicare, other government-sponsored health plan, military plan, or Indian Health Service coverage only, or those who had a private plan that paid for one type of service.

¶ Persons of Hispanic ethnicity may be of any race or combination of races.

** Estimates are based on household interviews of a sample of the civilian noninstitutionalized U.S. population and are derived from the National Health Interview Survey family core and sample adult components.

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In 2014, non-Hispanic black (11.4%) adults aged 18–64 were the most likely to have had two or more emergency department (ED) visits in the past 12 months compared with non-Hispanic whites (6.1%) and Hispanics (5.6%). This was true for all insurance coverage types except for Medicaid, where there was no difference between non-Hispanic whites (20.3%) and non-Hispanic blacks (22.5%). For each racial and ethnic group, adults with Medicaid coverage had the highest percentage of two or more ED visits in the past 12 months compared with those with private insurance and the uninsured.

Source: Gindi RM, Black LI, Cohen RA. Reasons for emergency room use among US adults aged 18–64: National Health Interview Survey, 2013 and 2014. National Health Statistics Reports, No. 90. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics; 2016. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr090.pdf.

Reported by: Lindsey I. Black, MPH, lblack1@cdc.gov, 301-458-4548; Renee M. Gindi, PhD; Robin A. Cohen, PhD.

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Suggested citation for this article: QuickStats: Percentage of Adults Aged 18–64 Years with Two or More Visits to the Emergency Department in the Past 12 Months, by Health Insurance Coverage Status, and Race/Ethnicity — National Health Interview Survey, 2014. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2016;65:192. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6507a8 .