TY - JOUR
T1 - Disturbing trends
T2 - The epidemiology of pediatric emergency medical services use
AU - Sapien, Robert E.
AU - Fullerton, Lynne
AU - Olson, Lenora M.
AU - Broxterman, Kimberly J.
AU - Sklar, David P.
PY - 1999/3
Y1 - 1999/3
N2 - Objective: To compare pediatric ambulance patients transported for chief complaints of suicide, assault, alcohol, and drug intoxication (SAAD) with pediatric patients transported for all other chief complaints. Methods: An out-of-hospital database for the primary transporting service in an urban area was analyzed for patients 0-20 years of age from 1992 to 1995. Chief complaints by age, gender, and billing status were analyzed. Results: There were 17,722 transports. The SAAD group comprised 14.9% of all transports (suicide attempt 1.6%, assault 5.9%, alcohol intoxication 3.2%, and drug abuse 4.2%). The proportion of transports due to SAAD increased with age: 0- 11-year-olds (4.2%); 11-16-year-olds (17.5%); and 17-20-year-olds (20.3%) (p = 0.0001). Genders were equally represented in the overall group, while males comprised 52.6% of the SAAD transports (p = 0.032). In the SAAD group, the majority of transports for assaults (55.9%) and alcohol (58.8%) involved males, while females were the majority in transports for suicide (52.3%) and drug abuse (66%) (p = 0.0001). Reimbursement sources differed, with those in the SAAD group less likely to be reimbursed by private or public (Medicaid, government) insurance (p < 0.0001) compared with the overall group. Conclusions: A substantial proportion of pediatric emergency medical services transports are for high-risk conditions. This patient population differs from the overall group by age distribution and reimbursement source.
AB - Objective: To compare pediatric ambulance patients transported for chief complaints of suicide, assault, alcohol, and drug intoxication (SAAD) with pediatric patients transported for all other chief complaints. Methods: An out-of-hospital database for the primary transporting service in an urban area was analyzed for patients 0-20 years of age from 1992 to 1995. Chief complaints by age, gender, and billing status were analyzed. Results: There were 17,722 transports. The SAAD group comprised 14.9% of all transports (suicide attempt 1.6%, assault 5.9%, alcohol intoxication 3.2%, and drug abuse 4.2%). The proportion of transports due to SAAD increased with age: 0- 11-year-olds (4.2%); 11-16-year-olds (17.5%); and 17-20-year-olds (20.3%) (p = 0.0001). Genders were equally represented in the overall group, while males comprised 52.6% of the SAAD transports (p = 0.032). In the SAAD group, the majority of transports for assaults (55.9%) and alcohol (58.8%) involved males, while females were the majority in transports for suicide (52.3%) and drug abuse (66%) (p = 0.0001). Reimbursement sources differed, with those in the SAAD group less likely to be reimbursed by private or public (Medicaid, government) insurance (p < 0.0001) compared with the overall group. Conclusions: A substantial proportion of pediatric emergency medical services transports are for high-risk conditions. This patient population differs from the overall group by age distribution and reimbursement source.
KW - Alcohol abuse
KW - EMS
KW - Epidemiology
KW - Injuries
KW - Pediatrics
KW - Suicide
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0033017913&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0033017913&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/j.1553-2712.1999.tb00162.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1553-2712.1999.tb00162.x
M3 - Article
C2 - 10192676
AN - SCOPUS:0033017913
SN - 1069-6563
VL - 6
SP - 232
EP - 238
JO - Academic Emergency Medicine
JF - Academic Emergency Medicine
IS - 3
ER -