QuickStats: Rates* of Emergency Department Visits Related to Mental Health Disorders Among Adults Aged ≥18 Years, by Disorder Category† — National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, United States, 2017–2019§
Weekly / February 4, 2022 / 71(5);186
Abbreviations: ED = emergency department; MHD = mental health disorder.
* Visit rates are based on the July 1, 2017–July 1, 2019, estimates of the civilian, noninstitutionalized population as developed by the U.S. Census Bureau Population Division; 95% CIs are indicated by error bars.
† ED visits with diagnosed MHDs were identified using International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification codes F01–F99 and were categorized into the following disorder categories: psychoactive substance use disorders (F10–F19); anxiety, stress-related, or other nonpsychotic mental disorders (F40–F48); mood (affective) disorders (F30–F39); other MHD (F01–F09 or F50–F99); and schizophrenia, schizotypal, delusional, or other nonmood psychotic disorders (F20–F29). A visit could be included in more than one disorder category.
§ Based on a sample of visits by adults aged ≥18 years to EDs in noninstitutional general and short-stay hospitals located in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, excluding federal, military, and Veterans Administration hospitals.
During 2017–2019, 52.9 ED visits per 1,000 persons were related to a diagnosed MHD in the United States per year. Approximately one half of mental health–related visits had a diagnosis of a psychoactive substance use disorder at a rate of 27.1 visits per 1,000 persons per year, followed by an anxiety, stress-related, or other nonpsychotic mental disorder (14.4), mood (affective) disorder (12.6), other MHD (5.3), and schizophrenia, schizotypal, delusional, or other nonmood psychotic disorder (4.0).
Source: National Center for Health Statistics. National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, 2017–2019. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/ahcd/ahcd_questionnaires.htm
Reported by: Zachary J. Peters, MPH, zpeters@cdc.gov, 301-458-4130; Danielle Davis, MPH; Loredana Santo, MD.
For more information on this topic, CDC recommends the following link: https://www.cdc.gov/mentalhealth/tools-resources/individuals/index.htm.
Suggested citation for this article: QuickStats: Rates of Emergency Department Visits Related to Mental Health Disorders Among Adults Aged ≥18 Years, by Disorder Category — National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, United States, 2017–2019. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2022;71:186. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7105a6external icon.
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