Table 17_1_4-1

2010 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_4.1
People who had a hospital emergency room visit, United States, 2002-2007
		2007		2006		2005		2004		2003		2002
Population group		Percent	SE	Percent	SE	Percent	SE	Percent	SE	Percent	SE	Percent	SE
Total		13.0	0.3	13.4	0.3	13.8	0.3	14.1	0.3	14.1	0.3	14.1	0.3
Age	0-17	11.9	0.4	11.0	0.4	12.5	0.5	12.8	0.5	13.5	0.5	13.5	0.4
	18-44	11.8	0.4	13.2	0.5	13.1	0.4	13.5	0.4	13.4	0.4	13.4	0.4
	45-64	12.6	0.5	12.3	0.4	12.7	0.5	12.5	0.5	12.8	0.5	12.6	0.4
	65 and over	19.5	0.8	20.8	0.8	20.3	0.7	21.4	0.8	20.2	0.8	20.2	0.7
Gender	Male	11.9	0.3	12.5	0.3	12.7	0.4	13.4	0.4	13.2	0.4	13.1	0.3
Gender	Female	14.0	0.3	14.3	0.4	14.8	0.4	14.7	0.3	15.0	0.4	15.0	0.3
Race	White, single race	12.6	0.3	13.3	0.3	13.5	0.3	14.0	0.3	13.8	0.3	14.0	0.3
	Black, single race	17.1	0.7	16.4	0.7	17.0	0.5	16.4	0.6	17.2	0.8	16.3	0.7
	Asian, single race	6.4	0.8	5.5	0.6	6.9	0.9	6.5	0.8	7.4	0.8	6.3	0.9
	NHOPI, single race	14.8	4.4	15.1	3.6	10.3	2.6	DSU	DSU	12.2	3.0	14.7	3.2
	AI/AN, single race	14.4	2.7	16.9	3.2	18.4	4.2	19.0	3.0	23.9	2.9	15.9	2.6
	Multiple races	15.3	1.7	15.3	1.8	18.1	1.8	18.4	2.0	20.4	2.1	19.5	1.8
Ethnicity	Non-Hispanic, all races	13.4	0.3	13.7	0.3	14.1	0.3	14.5	0.3	14.4	0.3	14.4	0.3
	Non-Hispanic, White	13.1	0.3	13.6	0.3	13.9	0.4	14.6	0.3	14.1	0.4	14.4	0.3
	Non-Hispanic, Black	17.1	0.7	16.3	0.7	17.0	0.5	16.4	0.6	17.1	0.8	16.3	0.7
	Hispanic, all races	10.8	0.5	12.0	0.6	11.9	0.7	11.6	0.5	12.5	0.5	11.8	0.5
Family income^a	Negative/poor	20.0	0.8	19.6	0.9	20.2	0.8	19.4	0.7	21.8	0.8	20.3	0.7
	Near poor/low	15.4	0.7	16.4	0.6	17.3	0.6	17.5	0.6	17.3	0.6	17.2	0.7
	Middle	12.4	0.4	12.2	0.4	12.7	0.4	13.7	0.5	13.4	0.5	13.6	0.4
	High	10.1	0.3	11.0	0.4	10.8	0.4	10.9	0.4	10.6	0.4	10.9	0.3
Education^b	Less than high school	17.7	0.7	18.7	0.7	19.4	0.7	19.1	0.7	19.5	0.7	18.8	0.6
	High school graduate	14.3	0.5	15.4	0.5	14.8	0.5	15.5	0.6	14.8	0.5	15.3	0.5
	At least some college	11.2	0.4	11.8	0.4	11.7	0.4	12.0	0.4	11.7	0.4	11.4	0.4
Employment status, ages 18-64	Employed	10.8	0.3	11.8	0.3	11.6	0.3	11.9	0.4	12.1	0.3	11.6	0.3
Employment status, ages 18-64	Not employed	17.3	0.7	17.0	0.8	18.2	0.7	17.6	0.6	17.2	0.7	18.8	0.6
Health insurance, ages 18-64	Any private	10.6	0.3	11.1	0.3	11.5	0.3	11.9	0.3	11.7	0.3	12.1	0.3
	Public only	19.1	0.8	19.1	0.7	20.4	0.8	20.8	0.7	22.1	0.7	21.6	0.7
	Uninsured	11.4	0.7	11.4	0.6	11.2	0.6	10.7	0.6	11.7	0.7	10.6	0.6
Health insurance, age 65 and over	Medicare only	19.2	1.4	19.6	1.4	22.4	1.5	22.9	1.6	19.8	1.4	21.4	1.3
	Medicare and private	18.7	1.1	20.8	1.1	18.3	0.9	20.1	1.0	19.2	1.1	18.9	0.9
	Medicare and other public	25.5	2.2	25.0	2.4	25.8	2.1	25.6	2.4	27.2	2.6	25.3	2.2
Location of residence^c	Metropolitan	12.9	0.3	13.1	0.3	13.5	0.3	13.4	0.3	13.6	0.3	13.5	0.3
	Large central metro	11.5	0.4	12.4	0.5	12.6	0.5	11.9	0.4	12.5	0.4	12.4	0.4
	Large fringe metro	12.9	0.6	13.3	0.6	12.9	0.5	13.7	0.5	13.0	0.6	13.6	0.5
	Medium metro	13.7	0.6	13.4	0.6	14.1	0.7	15.1	0.6	15.4	0.6	13.9	0.5
	Small metro	15.7	1.0	14.5	0.9	17.0	1.1	14.2	0.7	14.9	1.0	15.8	0.8
	Nonmetropolitan	13.5	0.7	15.0	0.7	15.3	0.8	17.2	0.7	16.7	0.6	17.2	0.7
	Micropolitan	14.0	0.8	15.3	0.9	15.9	1.1	17.0	0.8	17.0	0.9	17.8	0.8
	Noncore	12.6	1.2	14.3	1.0	14.2	1.0	17.6	1.0	16.3	1.1	15.9	1.1
Language spoken most often at home	English	13.6	0.3	13.9	0.3	14.3	0.3	14.6	0.3	14.6	0.3	14.4	0.3
Language spoken most often at home	Other	8.3	0.5	8.5	0.5	9.0	0.5	9.2	0.5	9.4	0.5	9.7	0.5
Perceived health status	Excellent/very good/good	11.1	0.3	11.5	0.3	11.9	0.3	12.2	0.2	12.1	0.3	12.1	0.2
Perceived health status	Fair/poor	29.0	1.0	30.0	0.9	29.1	1.0	29.2	0.8	30.5	1.1	29.7	0.9
Activity limitations^c	Basic activities	26.6	1.0	28.2	0.9	27.9	1.0	27.3	1.0	26.4	0.9	28.2	1.0
	Complex activities	31.7	1.3	31.4	1.2	32.7	1.3	30.1	1.3	31.5	1.3	33.5	1.2
	Neither basic nor complex activities	10.7	0.3	11.5	0.3	11.5	0.3	11.8	0.3	11.7	0.3	11.4	0.3

^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 B: Detailed Methods.

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 February 2011

Internet Citation: Table 17_1_4-1: 2010 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. February 2011. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/research/findings/nhqrdr/nhqrdr10/17_utilization/T17_1_4-1.html