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Hospitalizations of the elderly in the United States for non-specific gastrointestinal diseases: A search for etilogical clues
Citation:
Chui, K. K., J. S. JAGAI, J. K. Griffiths, AND E. N. Naumova. Hospitalizations of the elderly in the United States for non-specific gastrointestinal diseases: A search for etilogical clues. American Journal of Public Health. American Public Health Association, Washington, DC, 101(11):2082-6, (2011).
Impact/Purpose:
In this paper, we first document the seasonal patterns for these conditions, and then compare and contrast their estimated times to peak.
Description:
Nonspecific gastrointestinal (GI) disease is a common cause of GI-related hospitalizations in U.S. elderly (82.9% of all cases) and it peaks concurrently with viral enteritis, suggesting a lack of diagnostic testing. The lack of etiological specificity in the current coding system may adversely affect the efficiency prevention, surveillance, and treatment. Successful disease prevention programs require targeting both a specific population and a specific disease. Choosing of a specific population allows public health practitioners to select the most suitable communicational tools, while the specifying the health outcome helps in selecting the best preventive practice. Infectious diseases, including infectious gastrointestinal (GI) illnesses, typically demonstrate seasonal patterns which suggest dominant routes of transmission and environmental determinants of these diseases (1, 2). Differences in seasonal patterns between subpopulations and diseases may suggest alternative transmission routes. For instance, the protozoan disease cryptosporidiosis has demonstrated higher rates in the early fall in temperate climates (3), while rotavirus peaks in the winter months (4). In order to obtain insight into the extent to which specific infectious GI illnesses may be miscategorized as unspecified GI conditions, we assessed and compared the seasonal patterns of hospitalizations due to infectious diseases (with or without pathogen specific diagnoses) and non-infectious diseases. In this paper, we first document the seasonal patterns for these conditions, and then compare and contrast their estimated times to peak.
