ACUTE UPPER GASTROINTESTINAL HEMORRHAGE IN CENTRAL FINLAND PROVINCE, FINLAND, AND IN TARTU COUNTY, ESTONIA

Background and Aims: A comparative study of the epidemiology of acute upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage (UGIH) was carried out in Central F inland province (CF), Finland, and in Tartu county (TC), Estonia. Pati ents and Methods: All patients from CF and TC aged greater than or equ al to 15 who were treated in the Central Hospital of Central Finland a nd in Tartu University Hospital for UGIH, entered the prospective stud y during 1 August 1992 - 31 July 1994. Altogether 298 patients (198 me n, 100 women) were treated in CF and 270 patients (159 men, 104 women) in TC. Results and Conclusions: The overall incidence of UGIH was 68. 3/100,000 adults per year in CF and 98.6 in TC. The incidence increase d considerably with age: from 3.1 in those aged 20-29 to 314.1 in thos e greater than or equal to 80 in CF, and from 13.2 to 299.1 in TC, res pectively. Incidence rates were twice as low in younger age groups in CF compared to TC, almost equalized in those greater than or equal to 60 and became even higher in those greater than or equal to 80. 63 % o f the patients (55 % men, 79 % women) in CF and 49 % (35 % men, 70 % w omen) in TC were greater than or equal to 60. NSAID use before UGIH wa s equally common (46 %) in both regions. Peptic ulcer accounted for ov er 50 % of UGIH cases both in CF and TC. Mortality rate was 8.1 % in C F and 9.9 % in TC. The main epidemiological differences between the re gions are the lower overall incidence of UGIH, due to the lower incide nce of haemorrhage in the younger age groups, and the higher proportio n of the elderly patients in CF compared to TC.