Emergency Department Revisits Among Youth Compared With Adults in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada

Our objective was to compare the association between age and emergency department revisits by comparing youth and adults in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.

The study is a retrospective observational cohort study using administrative data from all patients presenting with substance use disorder at Health Sciences North from January 1, 2018 to August 31, 2023. Patients were placed in 3 groups: under 18, 18 to 24 years old, and over 25 years old. The outcome was 30-day revisits from index date and total time to first revisit from index date.

Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed significant differences in emergency department revisit probabilities across age groups (log-rank P < 0.0001), with youth under 18 showing a higher risk of 30-day revisits [adjusted hazard ratio (HR) = 1.25, 95% CI: 1.10-1.44] compared with adults, while transitional-aged youth showed no significant difference (adjusted HR = 1.01, 95% CI: 0.89-1.24). In contrast, both youth (adjusted HR = 0.73, 95% CI: 0.63-0.86) and transitional-aged youth (adjusted HR = 0.79, 95% CI: 0.72-0.87) had significantly lower risks of revisits beyond 30 days compared with adults.

Youth under 18 with substance use disorder had a higher risk of 30-day ED revisits compared with adults, but a lower risk of revisits beyond 30 days, highlighting the need for targeted short-term interventions in this population.