Introduction: Eosinophilic gastritis (EG) and eosinophilic gastroenteritis (EGE) are rare entities. There is limited epidemiological data available for these disorders. The estimated prevalence of EG and EGE are 6.3/100,000 and 8.4/100,000 respectively in the general population. A large cohort study published in 2019, increasing prevalence rates for these disorders. In this study we sought to identify the epidemiological trends of EG and EGE from a large US population-based sample.
Methods: We utilized the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database, to identify trends of EG and EGE. Patients with a principal or secondary diagnosis of EG or EGE were identified from the years 2008 to 2018 using ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes. Annual prevalence of EG and EGE was calculated as well as epidemiological and healthcare utilization trends. Healthcare resource utilization measures included in the study were length of stay (LOS), hospital bed size, median household income, hospital region, primary payer and total hospitalization charges.
Results: From 2008 to 2018, a total of 6,027 patients with a diagnosis of EG or EGE were identified. The unweighted prevalence of EG/EGE during this 10-year period was approximately 8.61/100,000 patients. There was an increase in the rates of diagnosis annually from 207 to 685 patients over the study period. There was a female preponderance in the population which did not significantly change [p 0.35]. The mean age was 47.8 years [SEM: 0.6 years] and there was no significant variation in age distribution over 10 years [p 0.67]. Demographic trends are summarized in Figure 1. There was no significant change in trends for hospital type, median household income, primary payer, length or stay or patient race. Healthcare utilization trends are summarized in Table 1. There was however a significant increase in hospital charges from 2008 to 2018 [p 0.04]. The rates of diagnosis increased significantly from 2008 to 2018 in the South and West hospital regions when compared to other regions [p 0.01].
Discussion: The prevalence of EG and EGE remains rare in the US but it continues to steadily rise. This is associated with increasing healthcare utilization costs. The prevalence is significantly increasing in the South and West regions particularly. Further study is needed to assess causes for increasing prevalence and changing epidemiology of EG and EGE.
