| The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to examine the relationship between the population-at-risk factors (predisposing, enabling, and need) and the reasons for using the emergency department (ED) for nonurgent care. This study was conducted to address the research problem, which was a lack of knowledge on why patients use the ED for nonurgent care. The predisposing risk factors included age, ethnicity, and gender; the enabling risk factors included type of insurance, presence of a primary care physician or other known source of care; and the need risk factor was patients' perceived degree of urgency. Andersen's health behavior theory served as the framework, which included the health care utilization model to understand why patients choose the ED for primary care. The population consisted of over 30 million individuals aged 18 years and older who were registered survey takers with SurveyMonkey, read English, and lived in the United States. Participants completed a prequalifying questionnaire. Recruitment involved using SurveyMonkey Audience and posting on Facebook pages. The sample size was 134 adults who spoke and read English and who visited an urban hospital ED for nonurgent care based on the prequalifying questionnaire. The main research question was as follows: What is the relationship, if any, between the population-at-risk factors (predisposing, enabling, and need) and the reasons for using the ED for nonurgent care? Six hypotheses were not supported, and one hypothesis received partial support. There was a gap in knowledge on the reasons for using the ED for nonurgent care and the factors associated. A business-related aspect of this study is that the findings could lead to more effective ED policies, strategies to improve health care access, and lower costs in hospitals to alleviate ED overcrowding for hospital administrators, board members, and policy makers. |
