Health Services Financing and Utilization

hospital utilization

In 2003, over 20 percent of children went to a hospital emergency room or emergency department (ER/ED) at least once. Children with family incomes above the Federal poverty level (FPL) were less likely than children living below the FPL to have visited the ER/ED. Children in low-income families were more likely to have gone one to three times (24.0 versus 19.2 percent) and four or more times (3.0 versus 1.0 percent). Despite this difference, there was little disparity in the number of nights spent in the hospital by FPL.

The rate of ER/ED visits also varied by a number of other factors, including sex, age, and race and ethnicity. Males under 18 years of age were more likely than their female counterparts to have made any trips to the ER/ED (22.4 versus 19.3 percent). More specifically, males were more likely than females to have gone one to three times, while both sexes were equally likely to have made four or more visits. By age, children under 5 years had the highest rate of ER/ED visits (27.3 percent), followed by children 15 to 17 years (20.8 percent). Non-Hispanic Black children had the highest rate of ER/ED visits (24.1 percent), followed by Hispanic and non-Hispanic White children (20.3 and 20.6 percent, respectively).

> Bar Chart: Children’s Trips to the Emergency Room/Emergency Department, by Poverty Level: 2003

> Bar Chart: Children’s Trips to the Emergency Room/Emergency Department, by Age: 2003