Hospital discharges resulting from esophagitis among Medicare beneficiaries. Dig Dis Sci 1994 Jan;39(1):183-8
Date
01/01/1994Pubmed ID
8281855DOI
10.1007/BF02090080Scopus ID
2-s2.0-0028044765 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 27 CitationsAbstract
Despite the frequent occurrence of gastroesophageal reflux disease, until now only very few studies have dealt with the epidemiology of this common disorder. The Health Care Financing Administration complies annually 10 million records of all hospital discharges among Medicare beneficiaries distributed throughout the United States. The purpose of the present study was to take advantage of this large data set and analyze the demographic characteristics of patients discharged with esophagitis, esophageal ulcer, or esophageal stricture. The hospital discharge rates of all three diagnoses showed an age-related rise, the rise being most pronounced for esophageal stricture and, less significant, esophageal ulcer. The marked age dependency of esophageal stricture and ulcer may reflect the time necessary for complications to develop. While simple esophagitis affected women more frequently than men, significantly more men contracted its severe forms involving ulcers and strictures. All forms were more common in whites than blacks, and living in the southern parts of the United States was associated with an increased risk for esophagitis and strictures. The data suggest that besides varying exposure to environmental risk factors, differences in the pathophysiology among demographically stratified groups contribute to the occurrence of esophagitis.
Author List
Sonnenberg A, Massey BT, Jacobsen SJAuthor
Benson T. Massey MD Professor in the Medicine department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
Age FactorsAged
Aged, 80 and over
Esophageal Diseases
Esophageal Stenosis
Esophagitis
Female
Hospitalization
Humans
Male
Medicare
Patient Discharge
Risk Factors
Sex Factors
Ulcer
United States
