McCaig Linda F, Burt Catharine W
Adv Data. 2003 Jun 4(335):1-29.
This report describes ambulatory care visits to hospital emergency departments (EDs) in the United States. Statistics are presented on selected hospital, patient, and visit characteristics. Selected trends in ED utilization from 1992 through 2001 are also presented. The report highlights new items on the continuity of care provided at ED visits, initial vital sign measurements, whether the patient's residence was a nursing home or institution, and duration of the ED visit.
The data presented in this report were collected from the 2001 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS). NHAMCS is part of the ambulatory care component of the National Health Care Survey that measures health care utilization across various types of providers. NHAMCS is a national probability sample survey of visits to emergency and outpatient departments of non-Federal, short-stay, and general hospitals in the United States. Sample data are weighted to produce annual national estimates.
During 2001, an estimated 107.5 million visits were made to hospital EDs, about 38.4 visits per 100 persons. From 1992 through 2001, an increasing trend in the ED utilization rate was observed. Between 2 and 3 percent of ED visits were made by patients living in a nursing home or other institution. At approximately 3 percent of visits, the patient had been seen in the ED within the last 72 hours. In 2001, abdominal pain, chest pain, fever, and headache were the leading patient complaints accounting for nearly one-fifth of all visits. Acute upper respiratory infection was the leading illness-related diagnosis at ED visits. There were an estimated 39.4 million injury-related visits during 2001, or 14.1 visits per 100 persons. Diagnostic/screening services and procedures were provided at 85.4 percent and 40.9 percent of visits, respectively. Medications were provided at 74.2 percent of visits, and pain relief drugs accounted for 34.2 percent of the medications mentioned. In 2001, approximately 12 percent of ED visits resulted in hospital admission. On average, patients spent 3.0 hours in the ED.
本报告描述了美国医院急诊科的门诊护理就诊情况。报告给出了有关选定医院、患者及就诊特征的统计数据。还呈现了1992年至2001年急诊科利用率的选定趋势。本报告重点关注了急诊科就诊时所提供护理的连续性、初始生命体征测量、患者居住场所是否为疗养院或机构以及急诊科就诊时长等新项目。
本报告中的数据取自2001年全国医院门诊医疗护理调查（NHAMCS）。NHAMCS是全国医疗护理调查门诊护理部分的一部分，该调查衡量各类医疗服务提供者的医疗护理利用率。NHAMCS是对美国非联邦、短期停留和综合医院急诊科和门诊部就诊情况的全国概率抽样调查。样本数据经过加权处理以得出年度全国估计数。
2001年期间，估计有1.075亿人次前往医院急诊科就诊，约每100人中有38.4人次就诊。1992年至2001年期间，观察到急诊科利用率呈上升趋势。2%至3%的急诊科就诊患者居住在疗养院或其他机构。约3%的就诊患者在过去72小时内曾在急诊科就诊。2001年，腹痛、胸痛、发烧和头痛是患者的主要就诊主诉，占所有就诊人次的近五分之一。急性上呼吸道感染是急诊科就诊时与疾病相关的主要诊断。2001年估计有3940万人次因受伤就诊，即每100人中有14.1人次就诊。分别有85.4%和40.9%的就诊提供了诊断/筛查服务及程序。74.2%的就诊提供了药物治疗，其中止痛药物占提及药物的34.2%。2001年，约12%的急诊科就诊导致患者住院。患者在急诊科平均停留3.0小时。
