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. 2022 Jan 1;49(1):43-49.
doi: 10.1097/OLQ.0000000000001514.

Pelvic Inflammatory Disease Trends Among Emergency Department Visits in North Carolina, 2008 to 2017

Dayna T Neo  1 , Erika Samoff  2 , Anna Cope
Affiliations

Pelvic Inflammatory Disease Trends Among Emergency Department Visits in North Carolina, 2008 to 2017

Dayna T Neo et al. Sex Transm Dis. .

Abstract

Background: Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is an infection of the upper female reproductive organs that can lead to infertility and ectopic pregnancies. It is a reportable condition in North Carolina (NC) but is likely underreported. We aimed to quantify PID diagnoses in NC emergency department (ED) visits.

Methods: The NC Disease Event Tracking and Epidemiology Collection Tool tracks all ED visits in NC. We identified PID diagnoses among women of reproductive age (15-44 years) between 2008 and 2017 using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth/Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification codes, and calculated the yearly proportion with PID diagnoses. We assessed the number of PID visits per patient each year, and the proportion of ED visits with a PID diagnosis by age, proportion of the patient's ZIP code living below the poverty line, insurance coverage, and NC provider region.

Results: The percent of women with PID decreased from 6189 (1.0%) in 2008 to 4337 (0.58%) in 2016 before increasing slightly to 4371 (0.61%) in 2017. We identified 54,502 (0.45%) ED visits among 51,847 (0.76%) women with ≥1 PID diagnosis code. Most (95.5%) women with PID had one ED visit during the calendar year. Each year, the proportion with PID was highest among women aged 20 to 24 years, covered under public insurance, from the most impoverished areas, and whose provider was in the Coastal region of NC.

Conclusions: The percent with PID among women visiting EDs decreased between 2008 and 2017 in NC. Although this decline was observed across all demographics, disparities associated with PID continued to persist over time.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest and Sources of Funding: The authors have indicated they have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Pelvic inflammatory disease trends by visit and by patient, North Carolina emergency departments, 2008 – 2017
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
PID trends among North Carolina emergency department visits by (A) age, (B) provider region, (C) census tract living in poverty, and (D) insurance status, 2008 - 2017* Denominator is number of visits per level of covariate. *Percentage indicates the proportion of the population living below the poverty level
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
PID trends among North Carolina emergency department visits by (A) age, (B) provider region, (C) census tract living in poverty, and (D) insurance status, 2008 - 2017* Denominator is number of visits per level of covariate. *Percentage indicates the proportion of the population living below the poverty level
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
PID trends among North Carolina emergency department visits by (A) age, (B) provider region, (C) census tract living in poverty, and (D) insurance status, 2008 - 2017* Denominator is number of visits per level of covariate. *Percentage indicates the proportion of the population living below the poverty level
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
PID trends among North Carolina emergency department visits by (A) age, (B) provider region, (C) census tract living in poverty, and (D) insurance status, 2008 - 2017* Denominator is number of visits per level of covariate. *Percentage indicates the proportion of the population living below the poverty level
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
PID trends among women ages 15-44 who presented to a North Carolina emergency department by (A) age, (B) provider region, (C) census tract living in poverty, and (D) insurance status, 2008 −2017* Denominator is number of visits per level of covariate *Percentage indicates the proportion of the population living below the poverty level
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
PID trends among women ages 15-44 who presented to a North Carolina emergency department by (A) age, (B) provider region, (C) census tract living in poverty, and (D) insurance status, 2008 −2017* Denominator is number of visits per level of covariate *Percentage indicates the proportion of the population living below the poverty level
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
PID trends among women ages 15-44 who presented to a North Carolina emergency department by (A) age, (B) provider region, (C) census tract living in poverty, and (D) insurance status, 2008 −2017* Denominator is number of visits per level of covariate *Percentage indicates the proportion of the population living below the poverty level
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
PID trends among women ages 15-44 who presented to a North Carolina emergency department by (A) age, (B) provider region, (C) census tract living in poverty, and (D) insurance status, 2008 −2017* Denominator is number of visits per level of covariate *Percentage indicates the proportion of the population living below the poverty level
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References

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