Description:
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<jats:bold>Background:</jats:bold>
In spite of temporal advancements in medicine, hypertension (HTN) remains a leading cardiovascular risk factor with suboptimal rates of control. The burden imposed by this cardiovascular risk factor on the nation’s emergency system is not well-understood. We sought to characterize emergency department (ED) visits among adults ≥18 years that included a diagnosis of hypertension in the 2006-2010 Nationwide Emergency Department Sample.
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<jats:bold>Methods:</jats:bold>
We defined hypertension using ICD-9 diagnosis codes based on the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality indicators for potentially preventable conditions. Appropriate sampling weights were applied to obtain national estimates and 95% confidence intervals.
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<jats:bold>Results:</jats:bold>
Over the 5-year period, the estimated total annual rate of ED visits among US adults was 98.3 million - 19.9% (n=19,534,992) of these visits included HTN as diagnosis. Rates of ED visits with HTN tended to increase over time [
<jats:bold>2006:</jats:bold>
18.1 (17.6 - 18.6),
<jats:bold>2007:</jats:bold>
19.0 (18.5 - 19.5);
<jats:bold>2008:</jats:bold>
20.0 (19.4 - 20.5);
<jats:bold>2009:</jats:bold>
20.7 (20.1 - 21.3);
<jats:bold>2010:</jats:bold>
21.5 (20.9 - 22.1)]. Annual weighted rates of HTN varied across age groups, payer status, and neighborhood income (
<jats:bold>Table</jats:bold>
). In the multivariable logistic regression model, that accounted for clustering and sampling weights, the odds of ED visits with HTN was significantly lower among younger patients and those who were uninsured/self-pay, higher among Medicare recipients, and lower among patients from neighborhoods with higher median income or urban locations.
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<jats:bold>Conclusion:</jats:bold>
Between 2006 and 2010, an estimated 1,953 per 10,000 visits to the ED each year included a diagnosis of hypertension among adult patients. National estimates of ED visits with HTN differ across patient and hospital characteristics, and likely represent an opportunity to monitor and address the burden of this potentially preventable condition.
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