An official website of the United States government
QuickStats: Number of Emergency Department Visits*,† for Substance Abuse or Dependence§ per 10,000 Persons Aged ≥18 Years, by Age Group — United States, 2008–2009 and 2016–2017
Weekly / December 20, 2019 / 68(50);1171
* Visit rates are based on the July 1, 2008–2009 and 2016–2017 estimates of the civilian noninstitutionalized population as developed by the U.S. Census Bureau Population Division; 95% confidence intervals are indicated with error bars.
† Based on a sample of visits to emergency departments (EDs) in noninstitutional general and short-stay hospitals, exclusive of federal, military, and Veterans Administration hospitals, located in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
§ Defined as ED visits made by patients aged ≥18 years with a primary diagnosis of substance-related disorders or primary complaint of substance abuse or dependence (includes opioid, cannabis, sedative, hypnotic, anxiolytic, cocaine, amphetamine, hallucinogen, inhalant, other stimulant, and other psychoactive substance-related disorders).
The rate of ED visits with a primary diagnosis or primary complaint of substance abuse or dependence by patients aged 18–34 years in the United States increased from 45.4 visits per 10,000 persons in 2008–2009 to 76.0 visits in 2016–2017 but remained stable among patients aged ≥35 years (27.2 in 2008–2009 and 24.6 in 2016–2017). In both periods, persons aged 18–34 years were more likely to visit the ED for substance abuse or dependence than those aged ≥35 years.
Source: National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, 2008–2017.
Reported by: Pinyao Rui, MPH, prui@cdc.gov, 301-458-4014; Alicia Ward, MPH.
Suggested citation for this article: QuickStats: Number of Emergency Department Visits for Substance Abuse or Dependence per 10,000 Persons Aged ≥18 Years, by Age Group — United States, 2008–2009 and 2016–2017. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2019;68:1171. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6850a7.
MMWR and Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report are service marks of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Use of trade names and commercial sources is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services.
References to non-CDC sites on the Internet are
provided as a service to MMWR readers and do not constitute or imply
endorsement of these organizations or their programs by CDC or the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services. CDC is not responsible for the content
of pages found at these sites. URL addresses listed in MMWR were current as of
the date of publication.
All HTML versions of MMWR articles are generated from final proofs through an automated process. This conversion might result in character translation or format errors in the HTML version. Users are referred to the electronic PDF version (https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr) and/or the original MMWR paper copy for printable versions of official text, figures, and tables.
Questions or messages regarding errors in formatting should be addressed to mmwrq@cdc.gov.