Advance data
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This report describes ambulatory care visits to hospital emergency departments in the United States. Statistics are presented on selected patient and visit characteristics. ⋯ During 1996, an estimated 90.3 million visits were made to hospital emergency departments (ED's) in the United States, about 34.2 visits per 100 persons. Persons 75 years and over had the highest rate of emergency department visits. There were an estimated 34.9 million injury-related emergency department visits during 1996, or 13.2 visits per 100 persons. There were 110,000 visits related to injuries caused by firearms, including 73,000 visits for gunshot wounds. Almost one-fifth of the injury visits were work-related for persons 18-64 years of age. Almost four-fifths of the ED visits involved medication therapy. Pain relief drugs accounted for almost 30 percent of the medications mentioned. Acute upper respiratory infection was the leading illness related diagnosis for ED visits.