Table 17_1_4-1c

2009 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports

The National Healthcare Quality Report (NHQR) is a comprehensive national overview of quality of health care in the United States. It is organized around four dimensions of quality of care: effectiveness, patient safety, timeliness, and patient centeredness.

Table 17_1_4.1c
People who had a hospital emergency room visit in the calendar year, by family income,^a United States, 2006
		Total		Negative/poor		Near poor/low		Middle		High
Population group		Percent	SE	Percent	SE	Percent	SE	Percent	SE	Percent	SE
Total		13.4	0.3	19.6	0.9	16.4	0.6	12.2	0.4	11.0	0.4
Age	0–17	11.0	0.4	14.3	0.9	11.5	0.9	10.5	0.7	9.3	0.9
	18–44	13.2	0.5	21.7	1.5	15.1	0.9	11.5	0.7	11.0	0.6
	45–64	12.3	0.4	23.3	1.7	16.3	1.1	11.4	0.8	10.0	0.6
	65 and over	20.8	0.8	23.9	2.2	27.0	1.6	19.3	1.5	16.6	1.3
Gender	Male	12.5	0.3	18.0	1.1	14.2	0.8	11.6	0.6	10.9	0.5
Gender	Female	14.3	0.4	21.0	1.0	18.3	0.8	12.7	0.6	11.1	0.5
Race	White, single race	13.3	0.3	19.1	1.0	16.4	0.7	12.3	0.5	11.2	0.5
	Black, single race	16.4	0.7	22.7	1.3	17.9	1.4	13.2	1.1	12.1	1.1
	Asian, single race	5.5	0.6	DSU	DSU	8.1	1.9	3.9	1.0	5.6	1.0
	NHOPI, single race	15.1	3.6	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU
	AI/AN, single race	16.9	3.2	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU
	Multiple races	15.3	1.8	18.2	4.1	18.4	3.9	17.5	3.2	8.5	2.3
Ethnicity	Non-Hispanic, all races	13.7	0.3	21.4	1.1	18.0	0.7	12.4	0.5	10.9	0.4
	Non-Hispanic, White	13.6	0.3	21.9	1.4	18.8	0.9	12.6	0.6	11.2	0.5
	Non-Hispanic, Black	16.3	0.7	22.7	1.3	17.7	1.4	13.4	1.1	11.8	1.1
	Hispanic, all races	12.0	0.6	14.2	1.1	11.5	0.8	10.7	1.0	12.3	1.8
Education,^b age 18 and over	Less than high school	18.7	0.7	24.0	1.6	20.7	1.2	15.1	1.1	14.4	1.9
	High school graduate	15.4	0.5	25.1	1.7	19.1	1.2	13.2	0.9	12.2	0.8
	At least some college	11.8	0.4	17.2	1.9	15.3	1.2	11.3	0.7	10.8	0.5
Employment status, ages 18–64	Employed	11.8	0.3	19.5	1.6	13.9	0.9	11.4	0.6	10.4	0.4
Employment status, ages 18–64	Not employed	17.0	0.8	24.8	1.6	19.5	1.3	12.2	1.2	11.6	1.4
Health insurance, under age 65	Any private	11.1	0.3	15.6	1.8	13.9	0.9	10.9	0.5	10.2	0.4
	Public only	19.1	0.7	21.8	1.0	16.9	1.0	16.5	1.6	16.9	3.9
	Uninsured	11.4	0.6	16.3	1.7	10.7	0.8	9.7	1.1	10.0	1.8
Health insurance, age 65 and over	Medicare only	19.6	1.4	18.0	3.5	23.1	2.4	22.6	3.3	12.5	1.9
	Medicare and private	20.8	1.1	24.6	3.6	30.1	2.5	18.6	1.7	17.5	1.6
	Medicare and other public	25.0	2.4	30.1	3.4	28.9	4.2	12.8	3.5	DSU	DSU
Residence location^c	Metropolitan	13.1	0.3	19.4	1.0	16.2	0.7	12.0	0.5	10.7	0.4
	Large central metro	12.4	0.5	16.7	1.3	15.1	1.1	11.5	0.8	10.0	0.7
	Large fringe metro	13.3	0.6	22.0	2.4	14.1	1.2	13.3	1.0	11.7	0.8
	Medium metro	13.4	0.6	20.6	1.8	18.1	1.3	11.4	1.0	10.2	0.7
	Small metro	14.5	0.9	22.8	3.3	19.8	1.9	12.3	1.2	10.2	1.4
	Nonmetropolitan	15.0	0.7	20.5	1.8	17.0	1.2	12.6	1.0	13.3	1.3
	Micropolitan	15.3	0.9	21.7	2.2	16.8	1.5	13.2	1.2	13.3	1.6
	Noncore	14.3	1.0	18.1	2.5	17.2	1.8	11.6	1.5	13.0	2.1
Language spoken most often at home	English	13.9	0.3	22.0	1.1	17.7	0.7	12.6	0.5	11.2	0.4
Language spoken most often at home	Other	8.5	0.5	10.8	1.0	9.2	0.8	7.9	0.9	5.3	0.9
Perceived health status	Excellent/very good/good	11.5	0.3	15.6	0.8	13.6	0.6	10.5	0.4	10.2	0.4
Perceived health status	Fair/poor	30.0	0.9	37.7	2.0	30.7	1.6	28.8	1.9	23.3	1.9
Activity limitations,^c age 18 and over	Basic activities	28.2	0.9	37.7	2.0	32.3	1.9	24.4	1.7	22.3	1.6
	Complex activities	31.4	1.2	38.6	2.4	34.4	2.5	27.1	2.6	24.2	2.5
	Neither basic nor complex activities	11.5	0.3	17.5	1.2	13.5	0.7	10.7	0.5	10.0	0.4

^a Negative/poor refers to household incomes below the Federal poverty line; near poor/low, the poverty line to just below 200 percent of the poverty line; middle, 200 percent to just below 400 percent of the poverty line; and high, 400 percent of the poverty line and over.

^b Less than high school refers to fewer than 12 years of education; high school graduate, 12 years of education; and at least some college, more than 12 years of education.

^c For more information, see the MEPS entry in Appendix A, Data Sources.

DSU - Data do not meet the criteria for statistical reliability, data quality, or confidentiality.

Key: AI/AN: American Indian or Alaska Native; NHOPI: Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; SE: standard error.

Source: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends, Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.

Current as of March 2010

Internet Citation: Table 17_1_4-1c: 2009 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. March 2010. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/research/findings/nhqrdr/nhqrdr09/17_utilization/T17_1_4-1c.html