Pediatric Emergency Room Revisits in Urban Ontario: Does Being an Immigrant Matter?

Objectives: To test the association of unscheduled 7-day emergency department (ED) revisits and immigrant status for all children living in urban Ontario and within subgroups of immigrant children. Methods: Population-based cohort study using linked health administrative and demographic datasets of immigrant and non-immigrant children in urban Ontario, who visited an ED between April 2003 and March 2010 (n = 3322901). Associations were tested using logistic regression models. Results: Recent immigrants had a higher odds of ED revisit compared with non-immigrants (OR 1.07; 95% CI 1.05-1.09). In the adjusted model, this relationship disappeared. Within immigrants, the odds of revisit was not different between immigrant classes or by region of origin but immigrants whose native tongue was not English or French had a higher odds of revisiting the ED in adjusted models (AOR 1.05; 95% CI 1.01-1.09). Conclusions: Immigrant children are not more likely to revisit the ED, although within immigrants, language proficiency is important.M.Sc