The Burden of Digestive Diseases in the United States Population

Digestive diseases are common and lead to significant morbidity, mortality, and health care utilization. We used national survey and claims databases to expand on earlier findings and investigate current trends in the digestive disease burden in the United States.

The National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, Nationwide Emergency Department Sample, National Inpatient Sample, Vital Statistics of the U.S., Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program, Optum Clinformatics^® Data Mart, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Medicare 5% Sample databases were used to estimate medical care, mortality, cancer incidence, and claims-based prevalence with a digestive disease diagnosis. Rates were age-adjusted (for national databases) and shown per 100,000 population.

For all digestive diseases, prevalence (claims-based, all-listed diagnoses) was 30.5% among commercial insurance enrollees (2020) and 53.1% among Medicare beneficiaries (2019). In the U.S. population, digestive diseases contributed to approximately 126 million ambulatory care visits (2015), 41 million emergency department visits (2018), 16 million hospital discharges (2018), and 472,000 deaths (2019) annually. Prevalence, medical care, and mortality rates with a digestive disease diagnosis were higher among children and younger adults (except for emergency department visits) and then increased with age. Women had higher prevalence and medical care rates with a digestive disease diagnosis, but mortality rates were higher among men. Prevalence and medical care rates with a digestive disease diagnosis were higher among Blacks, followed by Whites, then Hispanics, and lowest among Asians. Mortality rates were higher among Blacks compared with Whites and lower among Hispanics compared with non-Hispanics. Between 2004 and the most recent year, ambulatory care visit rates with a digestive disease diagnosis increased by 4%, hospital discharge rates decreased by 3%, and mortality rates decreased by 7%. Among commercial insurance enrollees, rates were higher compared with national data for ambulatory care visits and hospital discharges, but lower for emergency department visits. The medical care use and mortality burdens varied among individual digestive diseases.

The digestive disease burden in the United States is substantial, particularly among Blacks and older adults.