Demographic and risk factor differences between children with one-time and repeat visits to the emergency department for asthma

This retrospective study examines demographic and risk factor differences between children who visited the emergency department (ED) for asthma once (one-time) and more than once (repeat) over an 18-month period at an academic medical center. The purpose is to contribute to the literature on ED utilization for asthma and provide a foundation for future primary research on self-management effectiveness (SME) of childhood asthma. For the first round of analysis, an 18-month retrospective chart review was conducted on 252 children (0-17 years) who visited the ED for asthma in 2019-2020, to obtain data on demographics, risk factors, and ED visits for each child. Of these, 160 (63%) were one-time and 92 (37%) were repeat ED patients. Demographic and risk factor differences between one-time and repeat ED patients were assessed using contingency table and logistic regression analyses. A second round of analysis was conducted on patients in the age-group 8-17 years to match another retrospective asthma study recently completed in the outpatient clinics at the same (study) institution. The first-round analysis indicated that except age, none of the individual demographic or risk factors were statistically significant in predicting of repeat ED visits. More unequivocally, the second-round analysis revealed that none of the individual factors examined (including age, race, gender, insurance, and asthma severity, among others) were statistically significant in predicting repeat ED visits for childhood asthma. A key implication of the results therefore is that something other than the factors examined is driving repeat ED visits in children with asthma. In addition to contributing to the ED utilization literature, the results serve to corroborate findings from the recent outpatient study and bolster the impetus for future primary research on SME of childhood asthma.