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Reduction in emergency department visits for children's asthma, ear infections, and respiratory infections after the introduction of state smoke-free legislation.

ABSTRACT: Despite the benefits of smoke-free legislation on adult health, little is known about its impact on children's health. We examined the effects of tobacco control policies on the rate of emergency department (ED) visits for childhood asthma (N=128,807), ear infections (N=288,697), and respiratory infections (N=410,686) using outpatient ED visit data in Massachusetts (2001-2010), New Hampshire (2001-2009), and Vermont (2002-2010). We used negative binomial regression models to analyze the effect of state and local smoke-free legislation on ED visits for each health condition, controlling for cigarette taxes and health care reform legislation. We found no changes in the overall rate of ED visits for asthma, ear infections, and upper respiratory infections after the implementation of state or local smoke-free legislation or cigarette tax increases. However, an interaction with children's age revealed that among 10-17-year-olds state smoke-free legislation was associated with a 12% reduction in ED visits for asthma (adjusted incidence rate ratios (aIRR) 0.88; 95% CI 0.83, 0.95), an 8% reduction for ear infections (0.92; 0.88, 0.97), and a 9% reduction for upper respiratory infections (0.91; 0.87, 0.95). We found an overall 8% reduction in ED visits for lower respiratory infections after the implementation of state smoke-free legislation (0.92; 0.87, 0.96). The implementation of health care reform in Massachusetts was also associated with a 6-9% reduction in all children's ED visits for ear and upper respiratory infections. Our results suggest that state smoke-free legislation and health care reform may be effective interventions to improve children's health by reducing ED visits for asthma, ear infections, and respiratory infections.

SUBMITTER: Hawkins SS

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8323994 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Background and objectivesIn 2011, there were approximately 131 million visits to an emergency department in the United States. Emergency department visits have increased over time, far outpacing growth of the general population. There is a paucity of data evaluating emergency department visits among kidney transplant recipients. We sought to evaluate the incidence and risk factors for emergency department visits after initial hospital discharge after transplantation in the United States.Design, setting, participants, & measurementsWe identified 10,533 kidney transplant recipients from California, New York, and Florida between 2009 and 2012 using the State Inpatient and Emergency Department Databases included in the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project. We used multivariable Poisson and Cox proportional hazard models to evaluate adjusted incidence rates and time to emergency department visits after transplantation.ResultsThere were 17,575 emergency department visits over 13,845 follow-up years (overall rate =126.9/100 patient-years; 95% confidence interval, 125.1 to 128.8). The cumulative incidences of emergency department visits at 1, 12, and 24 months were 12%, 40%, and 57%, respectively, with median time =19 months; 48% of emergency department visits led to hospital admission. Risk factors for higher emergency department rates included younger age, women, black and Hispanic race/ethnicity, public insurance, depression, diabetes, peripheral vascular disease, and emergency department use before transplant. There was wide variation in emergency department visits by individual transplant center (10th percentile =70.0/100 patient-years; median =124.6/100 patient-years; and 90th percentile =187.4/100 patient-years).ConclusionsThe majority of kidney transplant recipients will visit an emergency department in the first 2 years post-transplantation, with significant variation by patient characteristics and individual centers. As such, coordination of care through the emergency department is a critical component of post-transplant management, and specific acumen of transplant-related care is needed among emergency department providers. Additional research assessing best processes of care for post-transplant management and health care expenditures and outcomes associated with emergency department visits for transplant recipients are warranted.

Project description:ObjectiveTo evaluate the association of short-term exposure to overall fine particulate matter of <2.5 μm (PM2.5 ) and wildfire-specific PM2.5 with emergency department (ED) visits for headache.BackgroundStudies have reported associations between PM2.5 exposure and headache risk. As climate change drives longer and more intense wildfire seasons, wildfire PM2.5 may contribute to more frequent headaches.MethodsOur study included adult Californian members (aged ≥18 years) of a large de-identified commercial and Medicare Advantage claims database from 2006 to 2020. We identified ED visits for primary headache disorders (subtypes: tension-type headache, migraine headache, cluster headache, and "other" primary headache). Claims included member age, sex, and residential zip code. We linked daily overall and wildfire-specific PM2.5 to residential zip code and conducted a time-stratified case-crossover analysis considering 7-day average PM2.5 concentrations, first for primary headache disorders combined, and then by headache subtype.ResultsAmong 9898 unique individuals we identified 13,623 ED encounters for primary headache disorders. Migraine was the most frequently diagnosed headache (N = 5534/13,623 [47.6%]) followed by "other" primary headache (N = 6489/13,623 [40.6%]). For all primary headache ED diagnoses, we observed an association of 7-day average wildfire PM2.5 (odds ratio [OR] 1.17, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.95-1.44 per 10 μg/m3 increase) and by subtype we observed increased odds of ED visits associated with 7-day average wildfire PM2.5 for tension-type headache (OR 1.42, 95% CI 0.91-2.22), "other" primary headache (OR 1.40, 95% CI 0.96-2.05), and cluster headache (OR 1.29, 95% CI 0.71-2.35), although these findings were not statistically significant under traditional null hypothesis testing. Overall PM2.5 was associated with tension-type headache (OR 1.29, 95% CI 1.03-1.62), but not migraine, cluster, or "other" primary headaches.ConclusionsAlthough imprecise, these results suggest short-term wildfire PM2.5 exposure may be associated with ED visits for headache. Patients, healthcare providers, and systems may need to respond to increased headache-related healthcare needs in the wake of wildfires and on poor air quality days.

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Reduction in emergency department visits for children's asthma, ear infections, and respiratory infections after the introduction of state smoke-free legislation.

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