Seasonal Variation in Diverticulitis: Evidence From Both Hemispheres

Diverticulitis is a common and morbid disease with incompletely understood risk factors and pathophysiology. Geographic and, recently, seasonal trends in diverticulitis have been described in the United States.

The purpose of this study was to investigate and compare seasonal trends in urgent hospital admission for diverticulitis in geographically distinct populations in the northern and southern hemispheres.

Inpatient, urgent admissions for diverticulitis were identified within the Dr Foster Intelligence Global Comparators Dataset, a global benchmarking collaborative.

Admissions to participating hospitals in the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States were identified between 2008 and 2013.

A total of 18,672 urgent admissions for diverticulitis were identified among 5.5-million admissions.

Four separate hypothesis testing methods were used to identify seasonal trends in diverticulitis admissions among international patient populations.

Seasonal trends were present in all 3 countries. A summer peak was observed in both hemispheres using multiple statistical testing methods. Logistic regression analyses identified summer months as significantly associated with diverticulitis admission in all 3 countries.

This study is limited by restriction to inpatient admissions, reliance on administrative data, and participation of select hospitals within the database.

These data suggest a shared seasonal risk factor among geographically distinct populations for diverticulitis.