Epidemiology and socioeconomic features of appendicitis in Taiwan: a 12-year population-based study

World Journal of Emergency Surgery

Chien-Hsun Huang⁴  Ren-Hao Pan²  Yuan-Hung Liu³  Chien-Lung Chan²  Nan-Ping Yang¹  K. Robert Lai²  Kai-Biao Lin⁵ 

[1] Institute of Public Health, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 11221, Taiwan;Innovation Center for Big Data and Digital Convergence, Yuan Ze University, Taoyuan 32003, Taiwan;Section of Cardiology, Cardiovascular Center, Far Eastern Memorial Hospital, New Taipei City, Taiwan;Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Taoyuan General Hospital, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taoyuan, Taiwan;Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Yuan Ze University, Taoyuan 32003, Taiwan

关键词: Socioeconomic status;    Epidemiology;    Appendectomy;    Appendicitis;   

Others  :  1225497
DOI  :  10.1186/s13017-015-0036-3

 received in 2015-06-12, accepted in 2015-09-07,  发布年份 2015

【 摘 要 】

Introduction

This paper presents an epidemiologic study of appendicitis in Taiwan over a twelve-year period. An analysis of the incidence in the low-income population (LIP) is included to explore the effects of lower socioeconomic status on appendicitis.

Methods

We analyzed the epidemiological features of appendicitis in Taiwan using data from the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) from 2000 to 2011. All cases diagnosed as appendicitis were enrolled.

Results

The overall incidences of appendicitis, primary appendectomy, and perforated appendicitis were 107.76, 101.58, and 27.20 per 100,000 per year, respectively. The highest incidence of appendicitis was found in persons aged 15 to 29 years; males had higher rates of appendicitis than females at all ages except for 70 years and older. Appendicitis rates were 11.76 % higher in the summer than in the winter months. A multilevel analysis with hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) revealed that male patients, younger patients (aged ≤14 years), and elderly patients (aged ≥60 years) had a higher risk of perforated appendicitis; among adults, the incidence increased with age. Moreover, the risk of perforation was higher in patients with one or more comorbidities. LIP patients comprised 1.25 % of the total number of patients with appendicitis from 2000 to 2011. The overall incidence of appendicitis was 34.99 % higher in the LIP than in the normal population (NP), and the incidence of perforated appendicitis was 40.40 % higher in the LIP than in the NP. After multivariate adjustment, the adjusted hospital costs and length of hospital stay (LOS) for the LIP patients were higher than those for the NP patients.

Conclusions

Appendicitis and appendectomy in Taiwan had similar overall incidences, seasonality patterns, and declining trends compared to numerous previous studies. Compared to NP patients, LIP patients had a higher risk of appendicitis, longer LOS and higher hospital costs as a result of appendectomy.

【 授权许可】

   
2015 Lin et al.

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