Trends in hospitalizations of children with inflammatory bowel disease within the United States from 2000 to 2009

Abstract

Background: The incidence and prevalence of pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) seems to be increasing in North America and Europe. Our objective was to evaluate hospitalization rates in children with IBD in the United States during the decade 2000 to 2009.

Methods: We analyzed cases with a discharge diagnosis of Crohn disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) within the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Kids' Inpatient Database, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Results: We identified 61,779 pediatric discharges with a diagnosis of IBD (CD, 39,451 cases; UC, 22,328 cases). The number of hospitalized children with IBD increased from 11,928 to 19,568 (incidence, 43.5-71.5 cases per 10,000 discharges per year; P < 0.001). For CD, the number increased from 7757 to 12,441 (incidence, 28.3-45.0; P < 0.001) and for UC, 4171 to 7127 (15.2-26.0; P < 0.001). Overall, there was a significant increasing trend for pediatric hospitalizations with IBD, CD, and UC (P < 0.001). In addition, there was an increase in IBD-related complications and comorbid disease burden (P < 0.01).

Conclusion: There was a significant increase in the number and incidence of hospitalized children with IBD in the United States from 2000 to 2009.