Hospitalization of Aboriginal adults for digestive disorders in Western Australia, 1989-91

Hospital admission rates for many gastrointestinal, hepatobiliary and pancreatic diseases were much higher in Aboriginals aged 15 to > 65 years than among the rest of the population of that age in Western Australia in 1989-91. Alcohol-related conditions were particularly prominent: the relative rate (RR) for alcoholic gastritis was > 30; for acute alcoholic hepatitis in young adults > 20; for alcoholic cirrhosis at 30-64 years the RR was about 4 to > 10; the RR for haematemesis and melaena was > 3; for acute pancreatitis at 30-64 years the RR ranged from about 3 to 20. Admissions for cholelithiasis in Aboriginal males were 1.5-2 times as frequent as in other males; for Aboriginal females the RR was > 2; acute cholecystitis was much commoner in Aboriginal patients from 30 to 64 years of age than in other patients of the same age. Illnesses coded as 'non-infectious enteritis and colitis' were the commonest diagnostic category in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD 9) classification of digestive system disorders among Aboriginal patients; admissions for these conditions occurred at double to more than seven times the rates that occurred in the same age groups in non-Aboriginal patients. Many of these illnesses were probably due to undetected gastrointestinal infections and parasitic infestations. This study shows that Aboriginal adults have disproportionately high rates of morbidity from many diseases of the digestive system. The findings have important implications for clinical services as well as for the development of preventive and promotional health strategies for Aboriginal people.