Prevalence of Eosinophilic Gastritis, Gastroenteritis, and Colitis
Estimates From a National Administrative Database
This study was funded, in part, by a University of North Carolina Junior Faculty Development Grant (E.S.D.) and National Institutes of Health Awards K23 DK090073 (E.S.D.) and K08 DK088957 (M.D.K.), and uses resources from the University of North Carolina's Center for Gastrointestinal Biology and Disease (P30 DK34987).
The statements, findings, conclusions, views and opinions contained and expressed in this article are based in part on data obtained under license from the following IMS Health Incorporated information service: IMS Health LifeLink, PharMetrics Plus Claims Database (January 2001 through November 2011), IMS Health Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. The statements, findings, conclusions, views, and opinions contained and expressed herein are not necessarily those of IMS Health Incorporated or any of its affiliated or subsidiary entities.
The authors report no conflicts of interest.
Supplemental digital content is available for this article. Direct URL citations appear in the printed text and are provided in the HTML and PDF versions of this article on the journal's Website (www.jpgn.org).
ABSTRACT
Objectives:
Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is becoming increasingly more common, but the prevalence of other eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorders (EGIDs) is unknown. Our objective was to estimate the prevalence of eosinophilic gastritis, gastroenteritis, and colitis in the United States.
Methods:
We used the IMS Health LifeLink PharMetrics Plus Claims Database, data representative of a US national commercially insured population containing medical and pharmaceutical claims for >75 million individuals. We restricted our sample to patients ages 0 to 64 with continuous enrollment between July 1, 2009, and June 30, 2011. We identified patients with eosinophilic gastritis, gastroenteritis, and colitis as defined by ≥1 instance of the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision codes 535.70, 558.41, and 558.42, respectively. We calculated the prevalence of the codes in the database and then standardized the estimates to the US population by age and sex.
Results:
The standardized estimated prevalences of eosinophilic gastritis, gastroenteritis, and colitis were 6.3/100,000, 8.4/100,000, and 3.3/100,000, respectively. The prevalence of eosinophilic gastroenteritis was the highest among children age <5 years, whereas eosinophilic gastritis was more prevalent among older age groups. We observed no age differences for eosinophilic colitis. Among affected patients, there was a high proportion of coexisting allergic conditions, 38.5% for eosinophilic gastritis, 45.6% for gastroenteritis, and 41.8% for colitis. Concomitant allergic disease was most commonly identified in pediatric patients.
Conclusions:
The prevalence of non-EoE EGIDs remains rare in the United States, with <50,000 total patients affected. There appears to be a female predominance and a high co-occurrence of atopic comorbidities.
