• Shanna Cox, Teresa Dean, Samuel F Posner, Denise J Jamieson, Kathryn M Curtis, Christopher H Johnson, and Susan Meikle.
• Division of Reproductive Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30341, USA. cio8@cdc.gov
• J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2011 Dec 1;20(12):1833-8.

ObjectiveTo describe reproductive health-related visits to Maryland emergency departments (EDs) among women aged 15-44 years from 1999 to 2005.MethodsWe obtained data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Emergency Department Database and State Inpatient Database. ICD-9-CM diagnosis codes were used to classify reproductive health-related visits. We calculated the annual rate of reproductive health visits to Maryland EDs from 1999 to 2005 for women aged 15-44 years and tested time trends using linear regression. Admission rates were defined as the percentage of ED visits that resulted in inpatient admission. We calculated age-specific and race-specific rate ratios for diagnoses using Poisson regression and admission rate ratios using Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel statistics.ResultsFrom 1999 to 2005, the rate of ED visits in Maryland increased 50%, from 28.0 to 42.1 visits per 1000 women. Lower genital tract infections were the most common diagnosis (21.4%). The rates were higher for women aged 15-24 than for women aged 25-44 (rate ratio 1.18, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.17-1.18) and nearly three times higher for black women than white women (rate ratio 2.94, 95% CI 2.92-2.96). Admission rates were lower for women aged 15-24 than for women aged 25-44 (rate ratio 0.34, 95% CI 0.33-0.35) and were higher among black than white women (rate ratio 1.16, 95% CI 1.14-1.18).ConclusionsDisparities by age and race are evident for reproductive health-related ED visits in Maryland, and many of these ED visits are for conditions that are amenable to preventive measures.

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