Volume 32, Issue 8 e70059
ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Trends and Socio-Demographic Patterns of Hepatitis B Virus Hospitalisations in Poland: A 12-Year Nationwide Analysis

Agnieszka Genowska

Agnieszka Genowska

Department of Public Health, Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland

Search for more papers by this author
Krystyna Dobrowolska

Krystyna Dobrowolska

Collegium Medicum, Jan Kochanowski University, Kielce, Poland

Search for more papers by this author
Dorota Zarębska-Michaluk

Dorota Zarębska-Michaluk

Department of Infectious Diseases and Allergology, Jan Kochanowski University, Kielce, Poland

Search for more papers by this author
Piotr Tyszko

Piotr Tyszko

Department of Social Medicine and Public Health, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland

Search for more papers by this author
Krzysztof Kanecki

Krzysztof Kanecki

Department of Social Medicine and Public Health, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland

Search for more papers by this author
Katarzyna Lewtak

Katarzyna Lewtak

Department of Social Medicine and Public Health, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland

National Institute of Public Health NIH—National Research Institute, Warsaw, Poland

Search for more papers by this author
Paweł Goryński

Paweł Goryński

School of Public Health, Centre of Postgraduate Medical Education, Warsaw, Poland

Search for more papers by this author
Jerzy Jaroszewicz

Jerzy Jaroszewicz

Department of Infectious Diseases and Hepatology, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland

Search for more papers by this author
Piotr Rzymski

Corresponding Author

Piotr Rzymski

Department of Environmental Medicine, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland

Correspondence:

Piotr Rzymski ([email protected])

Search for more papers by this author
Robert Flisiak

Robert Flisiak

Department of Infectious Diseases and Hepatology, Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland

Search for more papers by this author
First published: 18 July 2025

Funding: The authors received no specific funding for this work.

ABSTRACT

Although acute hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections in Europe have declined, thousands of chronic cases are still identified annually, placing a strain on healthcare systems. This study aimed to retrospectively analyse the patient profile, hospitalisation course, and admission causes for HBV infection in Poland in 2012–2023. The first-time HBV hospital admissions in Poland (ICD-10 codes B16; B18.0–B18.1) between 2012 and 2023 (n = 29,435) were analysed, examining trends by gender, age, residence and admission mode. The HBV first-time hospitalisation rate fell over tenfold, from 17.59 per 100,000 population in 2012 to 1.67 in 2021, rising to 3.45 in 2023. During 2020–2022, the share of hospitalisations with acute HBV increased (9.3% vs. 3.8% pre-pandemic; p < 0.05), but their rate was twofold lower (0.18 vs. 0.32 per 100,000 population). The mean patient age rose from 40.9 in 2012 to 51.5 years in 2023 (p < 0.05). Men from urban areas accounted for most hospitalisations, were older than rural patients, and had the highest emergency admission rates. Women from rural areas had the lowest hospitalisation share, were younger, and had over three times fewer emergency admissions. From 2012 to 2023, Poland experienced a major decline, then a resurgence, in HBV hospitalisations, with a higher share of acute cases during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hospitalised patients aged significantly, with urban men most affected. These patterns underscore the need for targeted HBV prevention and management strategies for aging urban populations.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

The full text of this article hosted at iucr.org is unavailable due to technical difficulties.