Increase in Hospital Discharges for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases in Chile Between 2001 and 2012

Abstract

Aim

To determine the number of annual hospital discharges for inflammatory bowel diseases in Chile. The hypothesis is that there is a significant increase in the hospital discharges due to this disease from 2001 to 2012.

Materials and Methods

This is a descriptive study. Data were obtained from the Web site of the Department of Health Statistics. All hospital discharges from 2001 to 2012 were included. The following variables were analyzed: length of stay, hospital mortality, and eventual surgical procedure. Data are presented as descriptive statistics. The B-coefficient was calculated to establish the significance of the annual trend.

Results

There were 13,001 hospital discharges with the diagnosis of ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease, corresponding to 0.067% of all hospital discharges in the whole period. Within these discharges, 31.2% were Crohn's disease and 68.8% were ulcerative colitis. At least one surgical procedure was performed in 12.9% of the hospitalizations. There was a significant increase in the annual rate of hospital discharges from 5.25 in 2001 to 8.64 per 100 thousand inhabitants in 2012. This increase was from 1.68 to 3.11 in Crohn's disease and from 3.58 to 5.53 in ulcerative colitis. However, a decrease was observed in length of stay, need of surgical treatment and in-hospital mortality.

Conclusion

From 2001 until 2012, there has been a significant increase in hospital discharges for inflammatory bowel diseases in Chile, associated with a decrease in length of stay, need of surgery and in-hospital mortality.

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