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Table 1 Characteristics of people with (1) frequent ED visits (top 10%) and substance use; (2) frequent ED visits (top 10%) and no substance use; and (3) non-frequent ED visits (bottom 90%) and substance use in Ontario, Alberta, and B.C. (April 1st, 2014 to March 31st, 2015)

From: Characterizing people with frequent emergency department visits and substance use: a retrospective cohort study of linked administrative data in Ontario, Alberta, and B.C., Canada

Characteristics

Ontario

Alberta

B.C

Number of patients with at least one ED visit

2,572,057

841,346

643,000

Number of people with frequent ED visits (top 10%)

467,223

106,381

97,120

(1) Number of people with frequent ED visits (top 10%) and substance use

19,604

7,706

9,404

Sex, n (%)

 Male

12,115 (61.8)

4,695 (60.9)

5,922 (63.0)

 Female

7,489 (38.2)

3,011 (39.1)

3,482 (37.0)

Age at year end (years)

 Median (IQR)

40 (27–53)

37 (27–50)

43 (30–55)

Urban/rural residence, n (%)

 Rural

2,760 (14.1)

2,032 (26.4)

470 (5.0)

 Urban

15,985 (81.5)

5,001 (64.9)

8,862 (94.2)

 NA

859 (4.4)

673 (8.7)

72 (0.8)

Neighborhood income quintile, n (%)

 1st Quintile

5,094 (26.0)

2,822 (36.6)

3,677 (39.1)

 2nd Quintile

3,993 (20.4)

1,045 (13.6)

1,811 (19.3)

 3rd Quintile

3,326 (17.0)

1,469 (19.1)

1,478 (15.7)

 4th Quintile

3,045 (15.5)

781 (10.1)

1,195 (12.7)

 5th Quintile

3,131 (16.0)

708 (9.2)

925 (9.8)

 Unknown

156 (0.8)

208 (2.7)

245 (2.6)

Total number of ED visits

153,763

71,835

63,809

Number of ED visits per patient

 Median (IQR)

5 (3–8)

6 (5–10)

5 (3–7)

Total number of admissions

17,547

10,555

15,245

Number of patients with at least one admission, n (%)

8,292 (42.3)

4,575 (59.4)

6,161 (65.5)

(2) Number of people with frequent ED visits (top 10%) and no substance use

447,619 (100)

98,675 (100)

87,716 (100)

Sex, n (%)

 Male

194,507 (43.5)

43,433 (44.0)

39,539 (45.1)

 Female

253,110 (56.5)

55,242 (56.0)

48,157 (54.9)

 Unknown

2 (0.0)

0 (0.0)

20 (0.0)

Age at year end (years)

 Median (IQR)

52 (33–70)

46 (30–64)

56 (36–74)

Urban/rural residence, n (%)

 Rural

94,310 (21.1)

34,519 (35.0)

3,505 (4.0)

 Urban

352,038 (78.6)

63,369 (64.2)

82,323 (93.9)

 NA

1,271 (0.3)

787 (0.8)

1,888 (2.2)

Neighborhood income quintile, n (%)

 1st Quintile

100,949 (22.6)

38,638 (39.2)

22,801 (26.0)

 2nd Quintile

95,055 (21.2)

13,456 (13.6)

18,591 (21.2)

 3rd Quintile

78,814 (17.6)

19,859 (20.1)

16,413 (18.7)

 4th Quintile

84,536 (18.9)

13,020 (13.2)

15,310 (17.5)

 5th Quintile

85,691 (19.1)

10,488 (10.6)

13,175 (15.0)

 Unknown

2,574 (0.6)

3,214 (3.3)

1,426 (1.6)

Total number of ED visits

1,996,495

632,736

379,037

Number of ED visits per patient

 Median (IQR)

4 (3–5)

5 (4–7)

3 (3–5)

Total number of admissions

267,415

63,082

77,379

Number of patients with at least one admission

146,047 (32.6)

33,454 (33.9)

38,836 (44.3)

(3) Number of people with non-frequent ED visits (bottom 90%) and substance use

6,088 (100)

2,742 (100)

12,967 (100)

Sex, n (%)

 Male

3,895 (64.0)

1,717 (62.6)

8164 (63.0)

 Female

2,192 (36.0)

1,025 (37.4)

4802 (37.0)

 Unknown

1 (0.0)

0 (0.0)

 < 5 (0.0)

Age at year end (years)

 Median (IQR)

37 (23–53)

36 (24–51)

43 (29–56)

Urban/rural residence, n (%)

 Rural

755 (12.4)

456 (16.6)

836 (6.4)

 Urban

5,165 (84.8)

2,203 (80.3)

11,060 (85.3)

 NA

168 (2.8)

83 (3.0)

1,071 (8.3)

Neighborhood income quintile, n (%)

 1st Quintile

1,349 (22.2)

802 (29.2)

3,915 (30.2)

 2nd Quintile

1,297 (21.3)

466 (17.0)

2,623 (20.2)

 3rd Quintile

1,047 (17.2)

605 (22.1)

2,229 (17.2)

 4th Quintile

1,083 (17.8)

374 (13.6)

2,036 (15.7)

 5th Quintile

1,075 (17.7)

351 (12.8)

1,744 (13.4)

 Unknown

237 (3.9)

144 (5.3)

420 (3)

Total number of ED visits

9,903

15,328

17,643

Number of ED visits per patient

 Median (IQR)

1 (1–2)

1 (1–4)

1 (1–2)

Total number of admissions

1,844

1,521

8,050

Number of patients with at least one admission

1,568 (25.8)

1,117 (40.7)

5,323 (41.1)