US CDC Says Diabetics Account For High Number of Emergency Room Visits

According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, emergency room visits for diabetics over age 45 was at a rate of 92 per 1,000 persons. The higher the age group of the diabetics studied, the more likely they were to make an ER visit and be admitted to the hospital for diabetes-related problems. The CDC published the findings as part of the annual reports from the National Center for Health Statistics.

The study's information came from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Car Survey, which quantified emergency department visits by groups and reasons for the visit. Data was from 2015, the latest full year for which data were available.

12 million ER visits in 2015 were related to diabetes.

The rate of visits to the emergency room by those with diabetes who are over age 45 increased from 2012 to 2015, the study found, and those aged 75 and older were 2.5 times more likely to go to the ER compared to those aged 45 to 64.

Hospital admissions after an ER visit for those aged 45 to 64 were nearly twice as common for those with diabetes as they were for those who did not have a diabetic diagnosis. About a quarter of all ER visits from those aged 45 and over related to diabetes issues were Medicare claims versus 14 percent of those without diabetes in the same age group.

The study follows on annual statistical information produced by the CDC on various health conditions and medical facility usage in the U.S.

Source: CDC.gov