title: A Profile on Emergency Department Utilization in Adolescents and Young Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders.
abstract: There has been an increase in utilization of the Emergency Department (ED) in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) which may reflect a deficit of services (Green et al., Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 40(3):325-332, 2001; Gurney et al., Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine 160:825-830, 2006; Leichtman et al., American Journal of Orthopsyhciatry 72(2):227-235, 2001). The current study examined the rates of ED utilization between 2005 and 2013 in ASD youth 12- to 21-years-old. Adolescents with ASD accessed ED services four times as often as adolescents without ASD. Older adolescents and those living in rural areas showed a significant increase in ED visits over time. Post hoc analysis revealed increased ED utilization for females and behavioral health ED services over time. Better access to and greater understanding of services for adolescents with ASD is a critical need.
authors.affiliation: Division of Health Services and Behavioral Research, Department of Public Health Sciences, College of Medicine, Pennsylvania State University, 90 Hope Drive, Hershey, PA, 17033, USA. gliu@phs.psu.edu.|The Center for Applied Studies in Health Economics, Department of Public Health Sciences, College of Medicine, Pennsylvania State University, 90 Hope Drive, Suite 2200, Hershey, PA, 17033, USA. gliu@phs.psu.edu.
authors.forename: Guodong
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8683-0803
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Pennsylvania State University, 500 University Drive, Hershey, PA, 17033, USA.
authors.forename: Amanda M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Pearl
authors.affiliation: Division of Health Services and Behavioral Research, Department of Public Health Sciences, College of Medicine, Pennsylvania State University, 90 Hope Drive, Hershey, PA, 17033, USA.
authors.forename: Lan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.affiliation: Division of Health Services and Behavioral Research, Department of Public Health Sciences, College of Medicine, Pennsylvania State University, 90 Hope Drive, Hershey, PA, 17033, USA.|The Center for Applied Studies in Health Economics, Department of Public Health Sciences, College of Medicine, Pennsylvania State University, 90 Hope Drive, Suite 2200, Hershey, PA, 17033, USA.
authors.forename: Douglas L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Leslie
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Pennsylvania State University, 500 University Drive, Hershey, PA, 17033, USA.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Murray
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D002648:Child; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007344:Insurance Claim Reporting / Q000639:trends; D008297:Male; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Adolescence; Autism; Emergency department; Service utilization