Comparison of emergency department and hospital admissions data for air pollution time-series studies.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Emergency department (ED) visit and hospital admissions (HA) data have been an indispensible resource for assessing acute morbidity impacts of air pollution. ED visits and HAs are types of health care visits with similarities, but also potentially important differences. Little previous information is available regarding the impact of health care visit type on observed acute air pollution-health associations from studies conducted for the same location, time period, outcome definitions and model specifications.

Methods

As part of a broader study of air pollution and health in St. Louis, individual-level ED and HA data were obtained for a 6.5 year period for acute care hospitals in the eight Missouri counties of the St. Louis metropolitan area. Patient demographic c

SUBMITTER: Winquist A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3511882 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature