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QuickStats: Emergency Department Visit Rates,*,† by Age Group — United States, 2019–2020
Weekly / October 21, 2022 / 71(42);1350
* Based on a sample of visits to emergency departments in noninstitutional general and short-stay hospitals, excluding federal, military, and Veterans Administration hospitals, located in 50 states and the District of Columbia. Visit rates are based on sets of estimates of the U.S. civilian, noninstitutionalized population developed by the Population Division of the U.S. Census Bureau and reflect the population as of July 1 of each year.
† With 95% CIs indicated by error bars.
The emergency department (ED) visit rate for infants aged <1 year declined by nearly one half from 123 visits per 100 infants during 2019 to 68 during 2020. The ED visit rate for children and adolescents aged 1–17 years also decreased from 43 to 29 visits per 100 persons during the same period. Decreases among adults aged 18–44 (47 to 43 per 100 adults), 45–74 (41 to 39), and ≥75 years (66 to 63) from 2019 to 2020 were not statistically significant. ED visit rates were highest for infants aged <1 year followed by adults aged ≥75 years.
Source: National Center for Health Statistics, National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, 2019–2020.
Reported by: Christopher Cairns, MPH, ovw7@cdc.gov, 301-458-4186; Jill J. Ashman, PhD.
Suggested citation for this article: QuickStats: Emergency Department Visit Rates, by Age Group — United States, 2019–2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2022;71:1350. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7142a5.
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