Pediatrics · Public Health · 3 h ago
Pediatric ED Visits Declined Among Spanish-Preferring Patients After Federal Deployment in Washington
A single-center interrupted time series study of 21,822 pediatric emergency department visits found immediate declines among Spanish-preferring and Hispanic patients after federal law enforcement deployment in Washington, DC. No comparable declines occurred during the same period in 2024; the observational findings do not establish causality.
- Analysis included 21,822 visits at one Washington, DC, pediatric ED.
- Spanish-preferring patients had an estimated 10.4 fewer daily visits after deployment.
- No comparable declines occurred during the same period in 2024.
- Observational findings cannot establish causality or quantify unmet care needs.
A repeated cross-sectional interrupted time series study in JAMA Network Open examined pediatric emergency department (ED) utilization around federal law enforcement deployment in Washington, DC, beginning August 11, 2025. Researchers compared daily visits from June 1 through September 30, 2025, with the same calendar period in 2024 at one freestanding children’s hospital. The analysis included 21,822 visits by patients younger than 26 years; median age was 6.5 years. Models assessed immediate changes and subsequent trends, adjusting for age, sex, and acuity.
After deployment, estimated daily visits immediately decreased by 10.4 among Spanish-preferring patients and increased by 5.6 among English-preferring patients, a difference of −16.0 visits per day. Visits decreased by 13.3 among Hispanic patients and increased by 6.2 among non-Hispanic patients, a reported difference of −19.4 visits per day. Among Hispanic patients, the estimated decrease was larger for those preferring Spanish than English (−12.1 vs −0.8 visits per day). No significant differences were observed across non-Hispanic racial and ethnic groups, and no comparable declines occurred in 2024.
The findings suggest that heightened immigration enforcement may affect children’s use of emergency care, particularly in Spanish-speaking communities. However, this single-center observational study cannot establish that deployment caused the declines or determine whether reduced utilization represented unmet emergency care needs. The supplied abstract did not report confidence intervals for the estimated changes.
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JAMA Network Open: Federal Immigration Enforcement Deployment and Emergency Department Utilization Among Children ↗This is an automated AI-condensed summary that has not yet been reviewed by an editor. Always consult the full item at the original source.