Socioeconomic differences in discharge against medical advice and hospital admission among emergency department visits associated with substance use in the United States.

Discharge against medical advice (DAMA) and inpatient admission (IA) among emergency department (ED) visits are two important outcomes in hospital utilization, while the first one has been mainly considered a negative outcome. This study aimed to examine the association of socioeconomic factors with DAMA and IA among ED visits with substance use (age 12-64 years) before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The study retrospectively analyzed the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (NEDS) from 2019 to 2020.