Abstract
Background
Use of the emergency department (ED) for routine or preventative care has been an
abiding concern for policy makers and public health practitioners.
Objectives
We utilized recent data to examine health-related, socioeconomic, and demographic
factors associated with use of the ED for routine or preventative care using a national
sample of adults.
Methods
Data from the 2017 National Health Interview Survey, a nationally representative sample
of 26,742 adults ≥18 years of age was used for this investigation. Bivariate and multivariate
analyses were used to assess the association between reported use of EDs as a usual
source of preventative care and health-related, socioeconomic, and demographic factors.
Results
In 2017, approximately 2 million adults nationwide reported the ED as their usual
source of preventative health care. Individuals experiencing ≥2 health care–related
barriers were more likely to use the ED as a source of usual preventative care (odds
ratio = 2.78 [95% confidence interval 1.64–4.72]). Individuals without insurance had
higher odds (odds ratio = 9.52 [95% confidence interval 5.60–16.19]) of using the
ED for care compared with those who were privately insured. In addition, those using
the ED for preventative care were more likely to be younger, poorer, less educated,
to identify as Asian or African American, and to reside in the Northeast United States.
Conclusion
This study provides a current perspective into characteristics and factors contributing
to use of the ED for preventative care. Overall, our findings suggest that the ED
continues to provide crucial safety net services to a small subset of the population
experiencing significant barriers to timely medical care.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: August 30, 2019
Accepted:
June 8,
2019
Received in revised form:
May 29,
2019
Received:
February 5,
2019
Footnotes
Reprints are not available from the authors.
Identification
Copyright
© 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
