title: Infectious Disease-Related Emergency Department Visits of Elderly Adults in the United States, 2011-2012.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the frequency of infectious disease (ID)-related emergency department (ED) visits of elderly adults in the United States.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional analysis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nationwide emergency department sample in 2011-12.
  
  
  METHODS
  Individuals in the ED aged 65 and older with a primary diagnosis of an ID.
  
  
  METHODS
  ID-related ED visits, hospitalizations, hospital-based mortality.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During 2012, a weighted estimate of 3,123,909 ED visits for IDs was calculated in elderly U.S. adults. This accounted for 13.5% (3.1 million visits) of all ED visits of elderly adults; this burden was higher than that for myocardial infarction and congestive heart failure combined. The rate of ID-related ED visits was 7,231 per 100,000 elderly adults. The most-common diagnoses were lower respiratory infections (26.2%; 95% confidence interval (CI)=25.7-26.6%), urinary tract infections (25.3%, 95% CI=25.0-25.7%), and septicemia (18.9%, 95% CI=18.3-19.6%). Of all ID-related ED visits, 1,786,657 (57.2%, 95% CI=56.6-57.7%) resulted in hospitalization. The leading cause of hospitalization was septicemia, accounting for 32.2% (95% CI=31.1-33.3%) of all ID-related hospitalizations through EDs, followed by lower respiratory infections (27.8%, 95% CI=27.2-28.4%). Overall, 123,894 individuals (4.0%, 95% CI=3.8-4.1%) died during their ED visit or hospitalization. Of these, septicemia was the leading cause of mortality (74.7%, 95% CI=73.8-75.6%), followed by lower respiratory infections (15.2%, 95% CI=14.6-15.9%). Analysis of the 2011 data gave similar results for the burden of ID-related ED visits, hospitalizations, and mortality.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Using a nationally representative sample, it was found that the public health burden of IDs in elderly U.S. adults was substantial, as measured by ED visits, subsequent hospitalizations, and hospital-based mortality.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Fukui Hospital, Fukui, Japan.|Department of Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Tadahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Goto
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Kazuki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.affiliation: Harvard Interfaculty Initiative in Health Policy, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Yusuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tsugawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.|Department of Epidemiology, T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Carlos A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Camargo
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Kohei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hasegawa
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004630:Emergencies; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D017052:Hospital Mortality / Q000639:trends; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007239:Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate / Q000639:trends; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: elderly; emergency department; hospitalization; infectious disease; mortality