Emergency department visits and trends related to cocaine, psychostimulants, and opioids in the United States, 2008-2018.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Drug-related emergency department (ED) visits are escalating, especially for stimulant use (i.e., cocaine and psychostimulants such as methamphetamine). We sought to characterize rates, presentation, and management of ED visits related to cocaine and psychostimulant use, compared to opioid use, in the United States (US).

Methods

We used 2008-2018 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey data to identify a nationally representative sample of ED visits related to cocaine and psychostimulant use, with opioids as the comparator. To make visits mutually exclusive for analysis, we excluded visits related to 2 or more of the three possible drug categories. We estimated annual rate trends using unadjusted Poisson regression; described demographics, presenting conc

SUBMITTER: Suen LW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8814795 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature