Emergency Department Utilization Among Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Exploring the Role of Preventive Care, Medical Home, and Mental Health Access

The 2016–2018 National Surveys of Children’s Health dataset was used to identify associations among preventive care, unmet health care needs, medical home access, and emergency department (ED) use among children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Results indicated that youth with ASD had higher odds of using ED services if they had unmet mental health care needs (OR = 1.58, CI: 1.04–2.39) and lower odds of using ED services if they had access to a medical home (OR = 0.79, CI: 0.63–0.98). Findings suggest the importance of access to coordinated, comprehensive, and patient-centered care to address health care needs and prevent ED utilization among children and adolescents with ASD.