title: Visits by the elderly to United States EDs for alcohol-related disorders.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objectives are to estimate the number of elderly patients presenting to emergency departments (EDs) in the United States from 2006 to 2011 for alcohol-related disorders and examine their demographic and clinical features.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study used 2006 to 2011 data from the Nationwide ED Sample, a stratified, multistage sample designed to give national estimates of US ED visits each year. Clinical Classifications Software 660 code ("alcohol-related disorders") was used. The clinical and demographic features that were examined were as follows: number of admissions, disposition, sex, age, expected payer, income, geographic region, charges, and primary diagnoses and procedures performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  From 2006 to 2011, there were 1620345 ED visits for alcohol-related disorders in elderly patients. Roughly one-third were discharged from the ED, whereas 66% (1078677) were admitted to the hospital. Approximately 73% were male, and the mean age was 73 years. Most patients used Medicare (84%), resided in neighborhoods with the lowest median income national quartile (29%), and lived in the South (36.4%). The average charge for discharged patients was $4274.95 (4050.30-4499.61) and $37857.20 (36813.00-38901.40) for admitted patients. The total charges for all patients treated and released from the ED were $2166082965.40 and admitted was $40835690924.40.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study provided insight not only into the sociodemographic characteristics of this patient population but also the health care costs related to alcohol-related ED visits. These results may contribute to the development of future interventions targeted toward this population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, West Virginia University, School of Medicine Morgantown, WV. Electronic address: atadros@hsc.wvu.edu.
authors.forename: Allison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tadros
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, West Virginia University, School of Medicine Morgantown, WV.
authors.forename: Meredith
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mason
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, West Virginia University, School of Medicine Morgantown, WV.
authors.forename: Danielle M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Davidov
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, West Virginia University, School of Medicine Morgantown, WV.
authors.forename: Stephen M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, West Virginia University, School of Medicine Morgantown, WV. Electronic address: slayman2@hsc.wvu.edu.
authors.forename: Shelley M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Layman
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D019973:Alcohol-Related Disorders / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D017721:Hospital Costs; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D019458:Insurance Coverage; D008297:Male; D006278:Medicare; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012424:Rural Population; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014505:Urban Population