Abstract
BACKGROUND: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is one of the most common out-patient diagnoses in primary care and gastroenterology. There are limited data on the rate and costs associated with in-patient discharges for IBS.
AIM: To estimate the incidence and costs of hospital discharges for IBS in the United States.
METHODS: We analysed the National Inpatient Sample database for all subjects in which IBS (ICD-9 code: 564.1) was the principal discharge diagnosis from 1997 to 2010. The National Inpatient Sample contains data from approximately 8 million hospital stays each year. Our findings reflected patient and hospital characteristics like geographical region and bed size.
RESULTS: In 1997, there were 11 433 patients with a principal discharge diagnosis of IBS as compared to 12 842 in 2010 (P > 0.9, GoF test). The mean length of stay for IBS also remained the same between 1997 and 2010 at 3.7 ± 0.1 days. However, during this period, the mean hospital charges per hospitalization increased by 207.8% from $6873 ± 198 in 1997 to $21 153 ± 598 in 2010 (P < 0.01). The aggregate charges (i.e., 'national bill') for IBS increased by 245.5% from $78 524 129 ± 3 781 316 in 1997 to $271 311 405 ± 14 023 289 in 2010 (P < 0.01).
CONCLUSIONS: The number of in-patient discharges and length of stay for IBS have remained relatively stable between 1997 and 2010, whereas the cost associated with these discharges has increased significantly. In-patient costs associated with IBS contribute significantly to the total healthcare bill. Further research on the cost-effectiveness of diagnostic procedures and therapies in IBS is required.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1338-46 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics |
Volume | 38 |
Issue number | 11-12 |
Early online date | 10 Nov 2013 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Dec 2013 |
Keywords
- Adolescent
- Adult
- Aged
- Aged, 80 and over
- Child
- Child, Preschool
- Databases, Factual
- Female
- Hospital Costs
- Hospitalization
- Humans
- Incidence
- Infant
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome
- Length of Stay
- Male
- Middle Aged
- Patient Discharge
- United States
- Young Adult