Table 1

Demographic characteristics of US National Health Interview Survey participants by emergency department visit frequency during the previous 12 months

0 ED visits (n=124 433)1–3 ED visits (n=29 971)4–9 ED visits (n=2803)≥10 ED visits (n=611)
Characteristic% (95% CI)% (95% CI)% (95% CI)% (95% CI)
Demographics
 Age (years)
  18–44 (n=74 872)49.6 (49.1 to 50.2)50.9 (50.0 to 51.7)52.6 (50.2 to 55.0)54.6 (49.3 to 59.8)
  45–64 (n=52 161)34.8 (34.4 to 35.3)30.0 (29.3 to 30.7)29.7 (27.5 to 31.9)27.8 (24.0 to 32.1)
  ≥65 (n=30 785)15.5 (15.2 to 15.9)19.2 (18.5 to 19.8)17.7 (16.0 to 19.6)17.6 (14 to 21.8)
 Female sex (n=88 268)50.8 (50.4 to 51.1)54.9 (54.1 to 55.6)63.3 (60.9 to 65.6)65.1 (59.9 to 70.0)
 Married (n=73 361)58.1 (57.6 to 58.6)49.9 (49.2 to 50.7)41.3 (38.9 to 43.8)44.1 (38.7 to 49.7)
 Race/ethnicity
  Non-Hispanic white (n=97 498)70.2 (69.7 to 70.8)69.9 (69.1 to 70.7)65.7 (63.2 to 68.2)65.0 (60.2 to 69.6)
  Non-Hispanic black (n=23 921)10.6 (10.2 to 11.0)14.6 (14.0 to 15.3)20.4 (18.4 to 22.5)23.4 (19.4 to 27.8)
  Hispanic (n=27 986)13.6 (13.1 to 14.0)11.7 (11.2 to 12.3)11.4 (10.0 to 13.0)9.3 (7.1 to 12.1)
  Non-Hispanic Asian (n=7647)5.0 (4.8 to 5.2)3.0 (2.7 to 3.3)1.7 (1.2 to 2.3)nc
  Other (n=766)0.6 (0.5 to 0.7)0.8 (0.6 to 1.0)ncnc
Socioeconomic status
 Currently employed (n=91 390)63.1 (62.7 to 63.6)52.5 (51.8 to 53.3)32.4 (30.1 to 34.8)23.0 (19.1 to 27.5)
 Poverty–income ratio
  <1.0 (n=20 413)8.5 (8.1 to 8.8)13.4 (12.9 to 14.0)25.3 (23.4 to 27.4)30.5 (26.2 to 35.1)
  1.0–1.9 (n=25 614)13.5 (13.3 to 13.8)17.2 (16.6 to 17.7)23.2 (21.3 to 25.2)24.1 (19.9 to 28.7)
  2.0–3.9 (n=37 706)24.6 (24.2 to 25.0)25.4 (24.8 to 26.1)21.6 (19.6 to 23.7)16.2 (12.9 to 20.2)
  ≥4.0 (n=44 063)34.3 (33.7 to 34.8)27.0 (26.2 to 27.7)13.2 (11.5 to 15.1)12.7 (9.3 to 17.1)
  Unknown (n=30 022)19.1 (18.7 to 19.6)17.0 (16.4 to 17.6)16.8 (15.1 to 18.6)16.6 (13.5 to 20.2)
 Education
  <High school (n=28 812)14.8 (14.4 to 15.2)19.5 (18.8 to 20.1)29.2 (27.2 to 31.4)31.3 (27.0 to 36.0)
  High school graduate (n=43 760)28.3 (27.9 to 28.7)30.0 (29.3 to 30.8)30.5 (27.9 to 33.2)31.4 (27.2 to 35.6)
  Some college (n=44 869)29.0 (28.6 to 29.3)30.5 (29.8 to 31.3)29.0 (26.9 to 31.2)27.0 (22.8 to 31.7)
  ≥Bachelors degree (n=38 954)28.0 (27.4 to 28.5)20.0 (19.4 to 20.6)11.3 (9.9 to 12.9)10.3 (7.5 to 13.8)
  • ED, emergency department; nc, not calculable due to <30 observations; ‘n’, represents number of observations in the National Health Interview Survey; percentages represented weighted proportions to estimate the entire US population.