Trends in Opioid and Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug Use for Patients with Kidney Stones in United States Emergency Departments from 2015 to 2021

Introduction: Renal colic is frequently treated with opioids; however, narcotic analgesic use can lead to dependence and abuse. We evaluated use trends of opioids and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for pain management of kidney stones in United States emergency departments (EDs) from 2015 to 2021. Methods: Kidney stone encounters were identified using National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey data. We applied a multistage survey weighting procedure to account for selection probability, nonresponse, and population weights. Medication use trends were estimated through logistic regressions on the timing of the encounter, adjusted for selected demographic and clinical characteristics. Results: Between 2015 and 2021, there were an estimated 9,433,291 kidney stone encounters in United States EDs. Opioid use decreased significantly (annual odds ratio [OR]: 0.87, p = 0.003), and there was no significant trend in NSAID use. At discharge, male patients were more likely than females (OR: 1.93, p = 0.001) to receive opioids, and Black patients were less likely than White patients (OR: 0.34, p = 0.010) to receive opioids. Regional variation was also observed, with higher odds of discharge prescriptions in the West (OR: 3.15, p = 0.003) and Midwest (OR: 2.49, p = 0.010), compared with the Northeast. Thirty-five percent of patients received opioids that were stronger than morphine. Conclusion: These results suggest improved opioid stewardship from ED physicians in response to the national opioid epidemic. However, regional variation as well as disparities in discharge prescriptions for Black and female patients underscore opportunities for continued efforts.

Trends in Racial Inequalities in the Administration of Opioid and Non-opioid Pain Medication in US Emergency Departments Across 1999-2020

BACKGROUND

Despite initiatives to eradicate racial inequalities in pain treatment, there is no clear picture on whether this has translated to changes in clinical practice.

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether racial disparities in the receipt of pain medication in the emergency department have diminished over a 22-year period from 1999 to 2020.

DESIGN

We used data from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, an annual, cross-sectional probability sample of visits to emergency departments of non-federal general and short-stay hospitals in the USA.

PATIENTS

Pain-related visits to the ED by Black or White patients.

MAIN MEASURES

Prescriptions for opioid and non-opioid analgesics.

KEY RESULTS

A total of 203,854 of all sampled 625,433 ED visits (35%) by Black or White patients were pain-related, translating to a population-weighted estimate of over 42 million actual visits to US emergency departments for pain annually across 1999-2020. Relative risk regression found visits by White patients were 1.26 (95% CI, 1.22-1.30; p<0.001) times more likely to result in an opioid prescription for pain compared to Black patients (40% vs. 32%). Visits by Black patients were also 1.25 (95% CI, 1.21-1.30; p<0.001) times more likely to result in non-opioid analgesics only being prescribed. Results were not substantively altered after adjusting for insurance status, type and severity of pain, geographical region, and other potential confounders. Spline regression found no evidence of meaningful change in the magnitude of racial disparities in prescribed pain medication over 22 years.

CONCLUSIONS

Initiatives to create equitable healthcare do not appear to have resulted in meaningful alleviation of racial disparities in pain treatment in the emergency department.

Opioid and Benzodiazepine Co-Prescribing Trends from the Emergency Department from 2012 to 2019: A National Analysis

BACKGROUND

In 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued its strongest safety warning ("Black Box Warning") for concomitant use of prescription opioids and benzodiazepines due to overdose deaths.

OBJECTIVE

Our objective was to look at trends of opioid and benzodiazepine co-prescribing in the emergency department (ED) using national data, because recent data are sparse.

METHODS

This is a retrospective review of data collected by the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey between 2012 and 2019. Our primary outcome was to determine whether there was a trend in ED visits when opioids and benzodiazepines were co-prescribed at discharge. We also compared the rate of visits when co-prescribing occurred before (2012-2015) and after (2017-2019) the 2016 FDA warning. We identified commonly co-prescribed benzodiazepines and opioids, and the rate of naloxone co-prescribing. We used descriptive statistics and bivariate tests to describe data.

RESULTS

Between 2012 and 2019, there were 4,489,613 ED visits (0.41% of ED visits) when benzodiazepines and opioids were co-prescribed. There was no trend in the rate of co-prescribing overall, but a decrease in visits after the 2016 FDA Black Box Warning (2012-2015: mean 0.49%; 2017-2019: mean 0.29%; p < 0.0001). There were 7980 ED visits (0.18%) when naloxone was co-prescribed for these visits within this time frame and an increase over time (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Our study found that between 2012 and 2019, there was no overall reduction in co-prescribing of opioids and benzodiazepines across EDs nationwide, but a decrease after the 2016 Black Box Warning.

Trends in amphetamine prescriptions given at discharge in emergency departments: A national analysis (2012-2019)

OBJECTIVES

In parallel with the opioid epidemic, there has been a resurgence in abuse, medical complications, and deaths related to amphetamines. The opioid epidemic began with increasing rates of prescription products that evolved overtime to include heroin and more recently, fentanyl analogues. Current trends in amphetamine prescriptions are less well described. We sought to determine if there has been a change in amphetamine prescriptions given at discharge in U.S. emergency departments (EDs) in recent years.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective review of data provided by the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS) from 2012 to 2019. We computed total number of visits that were given amphetamine prescriptions (amphetamine salts, methylphenidate derivatives, and dexmethylphenidate) at discharge for each year. We computed the total number and rate of visits (of all ED visits) that had both amphetamines and opioids prescribed at discharge over the years. We computed data normality using Shapiro Wilke's test and used descriptive statistics such as mean to describe the data distribution as applicable. We used spearman's rho (SR) or pearson's correlation (PC) as applicable to describe trends in data. All p-values were one-tailed and were reported at a 0.05 significance level. All analyses were conducted in IBM SPSS version 28.

RESULTS/FINDINGS

From 2012 to 2019, there were an estimated 817,895 ED visits where an amphetamine prescription was given at discharge, with an overall strong increase in rate over time (SR = 0.71, p = 0.02). At the beginning of the study period (2012) there were 83,503 (0.06%) visits and in 2019 there were 186,539 (0.12%) visits (123% absolute increase). On average, there were 102,237 (SD: 52,725) visits with discharge amphetamine prescriptions per year. There was a strong, linear increase in number of visits that involved a discharge amphetamine salt prescription (PC = 0.92, p = 0.001). In 2012, there were a total of 23,676 visits and in 2019, a total of 124,773 visits (427% increase). There was no trend in visits where both an amphetamine and opioid were prescribed (PC: 0.61, p = 0.06).

CONCLUSION

There have been increases in discharge prescriptions for amphetamines in the ED over time. This was largely driven by prescriptions for amphetamine salts. Future research initiatives should continue to monitor this trend and in prescriptions and associated abuse in the setting of rising amphetamine abuse.

Trends in naloxone prescribed at emergency department discharge: A national analysis (2012-2019)

BACKGROUND

While having access to naloxone is recommended for patients at risk for opioid overdose, little is known about trends in national naloxone prescribing rates in emergency departments (EDs) both for co-prescription with opioids and for patients who presented with opioid abuse or overdose. This study aims to evaluate the change in naloxone prescribing and opioid/naloxone co-prescribing at discharge using national data.

METHODS

We conducted an IRB exempt retrospective review of data collected by the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey from 2012 to 2019. The primary outcome was trend in rate of naloxone prescribing at discharge from ED visits. We also computed the proportion of visits where naloxone was both administered in the ED and prescribed at discharge, where naloxone and opioids were co-prescribed at discharge, and where an opioid was administered during the ED visit and naloxone was prescribed at discharge. All data were summarized using descriptive statistics and Spearman's Rho (SR) or Pearson's correlation (PR) were used to describe trends.

RESULTS

There was an estimated total of 250,365 patient visits where naloxone was prescribed at discharge with an increasing rate over time (0% of all ED visits in 2012 to 0.075% in 2019, p = 0.002). There were also increases in naloxone being both administered in the ED and prescribed at discharge (PC: 0.8, p = 0.02) as well as in naloxone and opioid co-prescribing (SR: 0.76, P = 0.03). There was an increase in utilization of opioids during the ED visit and naloxone prescribing at discharge for the same visit (SR: 0.80, p = 0.02).

CONCLUSION

There are increases in naloxone prescribing at discharge, naloxone and opioid co-prescribing, and opioid utilization during the same visit where naloxone is prescribed at discharge. Future studies should be done to confirm such trends, and targeted interventions should be put into place to increase access to this life-saving antidote.

Hospitalization Risk Associated With Emergency Department Reasons for Visit and Patient Age: A Retrospective Evaluation of National Emergency Department Survey Data to Help Identify Potentially Avoidable Emergency Department Visits

Background

Patients often present to emergency departments (EDs) with concerns that do not require emergency care. Self-triage and other interventions may help some patients decide whether they should be seen in the ED. Symptoms associated with low risk of hospitalization can be identified in national ED data and can inform the design of interventions to reduce avoidable ED visits.

Methods

We used the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS) data from the United States National Health Care Statistics (NHCS) division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The ED datasets from 2011 through 2020 were combined. Primary reasons for ED visit and the binary field for hospital admission from the ED were used to estimate the proportion of ED patients admitted to the hospital for each reason for visit and age category.

Results

There were 221,027 surveyed ED visits during the 10-year data collection with 736 different primary reasons for visit and 23,228 hospitalizations. There were 145 million estimated hospitalizations from 1.37 billion estimated ED visits (10.6%). Inclusion criteria for this study were reasons for visit which had at least 30 ED visits in the sample; there were 396 separate reasons for visit which met this criteria. Of these 396 reasons for visit, 97 had admission percentages less than 2% and another 52 had hospital admissions estimated between 2% and 4%. However, there was a significant increase in hospitalizations within many of the ED reasons for visit in older adults.

Conclusion

Reasons for visit from national ED data can be ranked by hospitalization risk. Low-risk symptoms may help healthcare institutions identify potentially avoidable ED visits. Healthcare systems can use this information to help manage potentially avoidable ED visits with interventions designed to apply to their patient population and healthcare access.

Online Self-Triage of Ear or Hearing Concerns in a Patient Portal: Comparison of Subsequent Diagnoses and Hospitalizations to National Emergency Department and National Ambulatory Ear or Hearing Visits

Background

Although online self-triage is easily accessible, little is known about the patients who use self-triage or their subsequent diagnoses. We compared ear/hearing self-triage subsequent diagnoses to ear/hearing visit diagnoses in emergency departments (ED) and ambulatory clinics across the United States.

Methods

We compared International Classification of Diseases version 10 (ICD10) coded diagnoses following online self-triage for ear/hearing concerns with those from national ED and ambulatory clinic samples. We used data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS) and National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) for comparison. Using matched ear/hearing diagnostic categories for those aged 1 and over, we compared self-triage diagnosis frequencies with national ED and ambulatory diagnosis frequencies.

Results

Following ear/hearing self-triage, there were 1092 subsequent office visits with a primary diagnosis code. For five frequently diagnosed ear/hearing conditions (i.e., suppurative and nonsuppurative otitis media [OM], otalgia, otitis externa, and cerumen impaction), there was a strong correlation between diagnosis counts made following self-triage and estimated counts of national ED visit diagnoses (r = 0.94; CI 95% [0.37 to 0.99]; p = .016, adjusted r2 = 0.85). Seven diagnoses were available to compare with the national ambulatory sample; correlation was r = 0.79; CI 95% [0.08 to 0.97]; p = .037, adjusted r2 = 0.54. For ages 1 and over, estimated hospital admissions from the national ED visits for ear/hearing were 0.76%, CI 95% [0.28-2.1%]; estimated total national ear/hearing ED visits were 7.5 million (for 4 years, 2016 through 2019).

Conclusion

The strong correlation of ear-related self-triage diagnoses with national ED diagnoses and the low hospitalization risk for these diagnoses suggests that there is an opportunity for self-triage of ear/hearing concerns to decrease ED visits for these symptoms.

Evaluation of Cough Medication Use Patterns in Ambulatory Care Settings in the United States: 2003-2018

Using 2003−2018 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey data for office-based visits and 2003−2018 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey data for emergency department (ED) visits, we conducted cross-sectional analyses to examine cough medication (CM) use trends in the United States (US) ambulatory care settings. We included adult (≥18 years) patient visits with respiratory-infection-related or non-infection-related cough as reason-for-visit or diagnosis without malignant cancer or benign respiratory tumor diagnoses. Using multivariable logistic regressions, we examined opioid antitussive, benzonatate, dextromethorphan-containing antitussive, and gabapentinoid use trends. From 2003−2005 to 2015−2018, opioid antitussive use decreased in office-based visits (8.8% to 6.4%, Ptrend = 0.03) but remained stable in ED visits (6.3% to 5.9%, Ptrend = 0.99). In both settings, hydrocodone-containing antitussive use declined over 50%. Benzonatate use more than tripled (office-based:1.6% to 4.8%; ED:1.5% to 8.0%; both Ptrend < 0.001). Dextromethorphan-containing antitussive use increased in ED visits (1.8% to 2.6%, Ptrend = 0.003) but stayed unchanged in office-based visits (3.8% to 2.7%; Ptrend = 0.60). Gabapentinoid use doubled in office-based visits (1.1% in 2006−2008 to 2.4% in 2015−2018, Ptrend < 0.001) but was negligible in ED visits. In US office-based and ED ambulatory care settings, hydrocodone-containing antitussive use substantially declined from 2003 to 2018, while benzonatate use more than tripled, and dextromethorphan-containing antitussive and gabapentinoid use remained low (<3%).

Trends in the Management of Headache Disorders in US Emergency Departments: Analysis of 2007-2018 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey Data

We examined trends in management of headache disorders in United States (US) emergency department (ED) visits. We conducted a cross-sectional study using 2007−2018 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey data. We included adult patient visits (≥18 years) with a primary ED discharge diagnosis of headache. We classified headache medications by pharmacological group: opioids, butalbital, ergot alkaloids/triptans, acetaminophen/nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), antiemetics, diphenhydramine, corticosteroids, and intravenous fluids. To obtain reliable estimates, we aggregated data into three time periods: 2007−2010, 2011−2014, and 2015−2018. Using multivariable logistic regression, we examined medication, neuroimaging, and outpatient referral trends, separately. Among headache-related ED visits, opioid use decreased from 54.1% in 2007−2010 to 28.3% in 2015−2018 (Ptrend < 0.001). There were statistically significant increasing trends in acetaminophen/NSAIDs, diphenhydramine, and corticosteroids use (all Ptrend < 0.001). Changes in butalbital (6.4%), ergot alkaloid/triptan (4.7%), antiemetic (59.2% in 2015−2018), and neuroimaging (37.3%) use over time were insignificant. Headache-related ED visits with outpatient referral for follow-up increased slightly from 73.3% in 2007−2010 to 79.7% in 2015−2018 (Ptrend = 0.02). Reflecting evidence-based guideline recommendations for headache management, opioid use substantially decreased from 2007 to 2018 among US headache-related ED visits. Future studies are warranted to identify strategies to promote evidence-based treatment for headaches (e.g., sumatriptan, dexamethasone) and appropriate outpatient referral and reduce unnecessary neuroimaging orders in EDs.

Rates of Presentation, Treatments and Serious Neurologic Disorders Among Children and Young Adults Presenting to US Emergency Departments With Headache

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate rates of presentation, neuroimaging, therapies, and serious neurologic disorders (SNDs) among children and young adults presenting to the emergency department with headache.

METHODS

We performed a cross-sectional study of a nationally representative sample survey of visits to US emergency departments between 2002 and 2017. We identified encounters of patients ≤25 years old with chief complaint of headache. We report the rates of presentation, imaging, and treatments and report proportions having concomitant diagnoses of serious neurologic disorders.

RESULTS

Among encounters ≤25 years, 2.0% had a chief complaint of headache, with no change in the yearly rates of encounters (P = .98). Overall, 20.8% had a head computed tomography (CT), with a reduction in performance between 2007 and 2016 (P < .01). One-quarter (25.2%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 22.2%-28.3%) were given narcotics and 2.5% (95% CI 1.7%-3.2%) had serious neurologic disorders.

CONCLUSION

Overall, 2.0% of emergency department encounters among patients ≤25 years were for headache, with low rates of serious neurologic disorders. CT use appeared to be declining.

National impact of 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine on ambulatory care visits for otitis media in children under 5 years in the United States

OBJECTIVE

The 7- and 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV7 and PCV13) were approved in the US in 2000 and 2010, respectively, for active immunization against invasive disease caused by all vaccine serotypes and otitis media (OM) caused by 7 serotypes common to both vaccines, starting at ∼6 weeks of age. This study assessed the impact of PCV13 on OM by evaluating changes in US ambulatory care visit rates between the period before PCV7 (1997-1999), during PCV7 (2001-2009), and after the introduction of PCV13 (2011-2013) among US children <5 years old.

METHODS

This ecological study used US National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey and National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey data. Trend analyses using weighted least-squares regression and mean visit rates were calculated for OM and two control endpoints not likely to be related to either vaccine (skin rash and trauma).

RESULTS

Among children <5 and < 2 years old, the observed reduction in OM visit rates was 22% (95%CI: 12%-32%) and 24% (95%CI: 13%-35%) when comparing PCV13 to PCV7 periods, and 41% (95%CI: 30%-52%) and 48% (95%CI: 37%-59%) when comparing PCV13 to pre-PCV7 periods. Visit rates for skin rash and trauma remained stable.

CONCLUSION

Significant reductions in US ambulatory care visit rates for OM were observed among children aged <5 years after introduction of PCV13 compared to the periods before and during PCV7; reductions were greatest among children <2 years old. The reductions beyond the PCV7 period support the effectiveness of the vaccine's 6 additional serotypes in preventing OM.

A National Dataset Analysis of older adults in emergency department observation units

BACKGROUND

Emergency Department (ED) Observation Units (Obs Units) are prevalent in the US, but little is known regarding older adults in observation. Our objective was to describe the Obs Units nationally and observation patients with specific attention to differences in care with increasing age.

DESIGN

This is an analysis of 2010-2013 data from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS), a national observational cohort study including ED patients. Weighted means are presented for continuous data and weighted percent for categorical data. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify variables associated with placement in and admission from observation.

RESULTS

The number of adult ED visits varied from 100 million to 107 million per year and 2.3% of patients were placed in observation. Adults ≥65 years old made up a disproportionate number of Obs Unit patients, 30.6%, compared to only 19.7% of total ED visits (odds ratio 1.5 (95% CI 1.5-1.6), adjusting for sex, race, month, day of week, payer source, and hospital region). The overall admission rate from observation was 35.6%, ranging from 31.3% for ages 18-64 years to 47.5% for adults ≥85 years old (p < 0.001). General symptoms (e.g., nausea, dizziness) and hypertensive disease were the most common diagnoses overall. Older adults varied from younger adults in that they were frequently observed for diseases of the urinary system (ICD-9 590-599) and metabolic disorders (ICD-9 270-279).

CONCLUSIONS

Older adults are more likely to be cared for in Obs Units. Older adults are treated for different medical conditions than younger adults.

Academic institution pilot study shows far fewer diagnoses of sinusitis than reported nationally

OBJECTIVE

To compare the prevalence of acute sinusitis (AS) and chronic sinusitis (CS) diagnosed by primary care and emergency medicine physicians in our academic institution to national data.

STUDY DESIGN

Cross-sectional pilot study of institutional census data and a population-based national sample. The setting was primary care and emergency departments at an academic healthcare institution and community healthcare practices nationally.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We determined the proportion of adults visits at our institution for AS and CS from January 1, 2005, to December 31, 2010. We used the same parameters with the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey and the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey. As a control comparison, we determined the proportion of visits for epistaxis.

RESULTS

The sinusitis prevalence was considerably lower at our academic institution: all sinusitis (AS and CS combined) ranged from 0.8% to 1.0% at our institution compared to 3.1% to 3.7% nationally. There were very small differences between AS rates at the academic institution (0.7%-0.8%) and nationally (0.8%-1.4%, P < 0.001) but very large differences between CS rates at the academic institution (0.1%) and national data (1.7%-2.9%, P < 0.001). Epistaxis rates were nearly identical in both datasets (0.1%-0.2%, P = 0.98-0.99).

CONCLUSION

The prevalence of CS is much lower at our academic institution, but the prevalence of AS and epistaxis are similar to national data. This suggests CS is over-diagnosed by primary care and emergency medicine providers and that CS diagnosed outside of an academic institution or a specialty clinic may not hold up to diagnostic scrutiny. For this reason, diagnostic and treatment protocols for CS that have been developed in academic specialty clinics should not be extrapolated to patients diagnosed with CS in the community setting. The most appropriate intervention for the majority of patients diagnosed with CS in primary care and emergency medicine may be education of providers and patients about conditions that may be misdiagnosed as CS.

Race, otitis media, and antibiotic selection

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Previous research suggests that physicians may be less likely to diagnose otitis media (OM) and to prescribe broad-spectrum antibiotics for black versus nonblack children. Our objective was to determine whether race is associated with differences in OM diagnosis and antibiotic prescribing nationally.

METHODS

We examined OM visit rates during 2008 to 2010 for children ≤14 years old using the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey and National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey. We compared OM visits between black and nonblack children, as percentages of all outpatient visits and visit rates per 1000. We compared antibiotic prescribing by race as the percentage of OM visits receiving narrow-spectrum (eg, amoxicillin) versus broader-spectrum antibiotics. We used multivariable logistic regression to examine whether race was independently associated with antibiotic selection for OM.

RESULTS

The percentage of all visits resulting in OM diagnosis was 30% lower in black children compared with others (7% vs 10%, P = .004). However, OM visits per 1000 population were not different between black and nonblack children (253 vs 321, P = .12). When diagnosed with OM during visits in which antibiotics were prescribed, black children were less likely to receive broad-spectrum antibiotics than nonblack children (42% vs 52%, P = .01). In multivariable analysis, black race was negatively associated with broad-spectrum antibiotic prescribing (adjusted odds ratio 0.59; 95% confidence interval, 0.40-0.86).

CONCLUSIONS

Differences in treatment choice for black children with OM may indicate race-based differences in physician practice patterns and parental preferences for children with OM.

The impact of the 2007 expert committee recommendations on childhood obesity preventive care in primary care settings in the United States

OBJECTIVES

In this study we examined the impact of the Expert Committee Recommendations (ECRs) on childhood obesity preventive care during well-child visits in the United States.

METHODS

Data from the 2006-2009 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey and National Hospital Ambulatory Care Survey-outpatient department were used to examine frequencies of diet/nutrition and exercise counseling during well-child visits by children aged 2 to 18 years. Differences in rates of the counseling before and after the ECRs were made were compared.

RESULTS

Only 37% and 22% of all patients in 2006-2007 and 33% and 18% of all patients in 2008-2009 were provided with diet/nutrition and exercise counseling, respectively. The frequencies of counseling for patients with a diagnosis of obesity showed no change. Socioeconomically disadvantaged children received counseling less frequently after the ECRs were made.

CONCLUSION

Overall, rates of obesity preventive care were low in all years, with no evidence of improvement after the ECRs were made. Systematic approaches are needed to improve delivery of obesity preventive care irrespective of the socioeconomic backgrounds of children.

Negative Binomials Regression Model in Analysis of Wait Time at Hospital Emergency Department

Wait time is the differences between the time a patient arrives in the emergency department (ED) and the time an ED provider examines that patient. This study focuses on the development of a negative binomial model to examine factors associated with ED wait time using the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS). Conducted by National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), NHAMCS has been gathering, analyzing, and disseminating information annually about visits made for medical care to hospital outpatient department and EDs since 1992. To analyze ED wait times, a negative binomial model was fit to the ED visit data using publically released micro data from the 2009 NHAMCS. In this model, the wait time is the dependent variable while hospital, patient, and visit characteristics are the independent variables. Wait time was collapsed into discrete values representing 15 minutes intervals. The findings are presented.

Diagnostic testing and treatment of pediatric headache in the emergency department

OBJECTIVE

To describe the variability in diagnostic testing and treatment of headaches in children presenting to the emergency department (ED) with use of a nationally representative sample.

STUDY DESIGN

This was a retrospective cohort study using the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey during 2005-2009. To assess the use of evidence-based treatment, we analyzed all patients <18 years old in 2 groups: (1) primary discharge diagnosis of headache and (2) discharge diagnosis of migraine.

RESULTS

Four hundred forty-eight sampled ED visits from 2005-2009 represented a national estimate of 1.7 million visits with a discharge diagnosis of headache. A total of 95 visits represented a national estimate of 340 000 visits with a discharge diagnosis of migraine. Median age was 13.1 years and 60% were female with a primary diagnosis of headache. In this group, neuroimaging was performed in 37% of patients and 39% underwent blood tests. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and opioids were most commonly used for treatment. For children with a discharge diagnosis of migraine, approximately 40% of patients received non-evidence-based treatment, most commonly with opioid medications, and >20% of patients underwent computed tomography scanning.

CONCLUSIONS

There is significant variability in the evaluation and treatment of pediatric headache in the ED. Despite evidence-based clinical guidelines for migraine headache, a large number of children continue to receive opioids and ionizing radiation in the ED.

Changes in prescriptive practices in skin and soft tissue infections associated with the increased occurrence of community acquired methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus

BACKGROUND

Over 30% of the US population is colonized with methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). People within the community, without factors associated with Hospital Acquired (HA) MRSA, present with skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs). Community Acquired MRSA (CA-MRSA) is resistant to antibiotics typically prescribed for SSTI. Many SSTIs are treated with antibiotics that are ineffective against drug resistant strains.

STUDY OBJECTIVES

This study examines the incidence of SSTIs associated with CA-MRSA, to determine if an increase in SSTI's is associated with changes in prescribing patterns for MRSA.

METHODS

A secondary analysis of the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) and National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS) data was used to detect incidence of SSTIs based on ICD-9 coding between the periods of 1997-2002 and 2003-2008. Antibiotic prescribing patterns were examined for treatment.

RESULTS

Incidence of SSTIs increased by 84.7% from 1997-2002 to 2003-2008. Antibiotics prescribed for methicillin sensitive S. aureus decreased while treatment with MSRA antibiotics increased.

CONCLUSION

There is an increased incidence of SSTI within the community, suggesting that CA-MRSA may be a contributing factor. Health care providers are recognizing the increased incidence of CAMRSA, and are treating SSTI with appropriate antibiotics.