2013 to 2022 Saw Increase in Influenza Testing at Hospital ED Visits

THURSDAY, Dec. 19, 2024 (HealthDay News) — The use of influenza testing at hospital emergency department visits increased from 2013 to 2022 in the United States, according to a December data brief published by the National Center for Health Statistics.

Susan M. Schappert and Loredana Santo, M.D., M.P.H., from the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Maryland, examined trends in the use of influenza testing at hospital emergency department visits during 2013 to 2022 using data from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey.

The researchers found that from 2013 to 2022, there was an increase in the percentage of annual emergency department visits with an influenza test ordered or provided, from 2.5 to 10.9 percent. The highest proportion of influenza tests ordered or provided in 2013 and 2022 was seen for emergency department visits by children ages 0 to 5 years (8.6 and 23.1 percent, respectively). The most frequent first-listed reasons for emergency department visits with an influenza test ordered or provided were fever and cough in both 2013 and 2022. For each geographic region of the United States, the percentages of emergency department visits with an influenza test ordered or provided increased between 2013 and 2022.

“Visits with a first-listed reason of nausea, shortness of breath, or psychological symptoms also had relatively high percentages of influenza testing in 2022; the percentages for nausea and shortness of breath were significantly higher than the corresponding percentages in 2013,” the authors write.

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