title: Characteristics of Hospital Emergency Room Visits for Mental and Substance Use Disorders.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study compared characteristics of visits to emergency rooms (ERs) for mental and substance use disorders and for physical health conditions to establish a baseline against which to measure changes after full implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and parity legislation.
  
  
  METHODS
  The retrospective, cross-sectional analysis fit a logistic regression model to pooled data comprising 193,526 observations from National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS) data from 2005 to 2011.
  
  
  RESULTS
  ER visits for mental or substance use disorders increased from 27.9 per 1,000 ER visits in 2005 to 35.1 in 2011. Homeless persons and nursing home residents had the highest rates of such visits-173.7 and 95.2 per 1,000 ER visits, respectively, in 2011.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Understanding differences in profiles of ER visits on the basis of the reason for the visit can inform the design of more cost-effective policies to guide ER intake, after further implementation of the ACA and parity legislation.
authors.affiliation: Dr. Ayangbayi and Dr. Okunade are with the Department of Economics and Center for Healthcare Economics, University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. Karakus is with Westat, Rockville, Maryland. Dr. Nianogo is with the United Nations Development Programme, New York City. Send correspondence to Dr. Okunade (e-mail: aokunade@memphis.edu ).
authors.forename: Toluwalope
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ayangbayi
authors.affiliation: Dr. Ayangbayi and Dr. Okunade are with the Department of Economics and Center for Healthcare Economics, University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. Karakus is with Westat, Rockville, Maryland. Dr. Nianogo is with the United Nations Development Programme, New York City. Send correspondence to Dr. Okunade (e-mail: aokunade@memphis.edu ).
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Okunade
authors.affiliation: Dr. Ayangbayi and Dr. Okunade are with the Department of Economics and Center for Healthcare Economics, University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. Karakus is with Westat, Rockville, Maryland. Dr. Nianogo is with the United Nations Development Programme, New York City. Send correspondence to Dr. Okunade (e-mail: aokunade@memphis.edu ).
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Karakus
authors.affiliation: Dr. Ayangbayi and Dr. Okunade are with the Department of Economics and Center for Healthcare Economics, University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. Karakus is with Westat, Rockville, Maryland. Dr. Nianogo is with the United Nations Development Programme, New York City. Send correspondence to Dr. Okunade (e-mail: aokunade@memphis.edu ).
authors.forename: Thierry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nianogo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006703:Ill-Housed Persons / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D058991:Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000628:therapy; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Economics; Emergency room; Mental illness &amp alcohol/drug abuse; Outpatient treatment