title: Pediatric visits to United States Emergency Departments for alcohol-related disorders.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The use of alcohol by pediatric patients has not been thoroughly examined in the United States (US). Patients with complaints related to alcohol use frequently present to the Emergency Department initially.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Our aim was to determine the number of pediatric patients (ages 17 years and younger) presenting to Emergency Departments (EDs) in the US from 2006 to 2008 for alcohol-related disorders and examine selected clinical and demographic features of this population.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a retrospective cohort study using 3 years (2006-2008) of data from the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample. This database was used to identify patients younger than 18 years of age with an alcohol-related ED visit, and clinical and demographic features were examined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  From 2006 to 2008, a total of 218,514 pediatric patients presented to US EDs and received a subsequent diagnosis of an alcohol-related disorder. Mean age of patients was 15.61 years. Most patients were male and tended to be from higher-income communities.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There were 218,514 visits to US EDs by patients younger than 18 years of age for alcohol-related disorders, accounting for >$850 million dollars in charges. ED-based brief alcohol interventions shown to work in adult populations should be explored for use in pediatric patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA.
authors.forename: Allison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tadros
authors.forename: Danielle M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Davidov
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Coleman
authors.forename: Stephen M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Davis
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002408:Catheters, Indwelling / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016208:Databases, Factual; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D017722:Hospital Charges / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013537:Sutures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology