IS THE INCIDENCE OF ACUTE APPENDICITIS REALLY FALLING

To determine if there has been a genuine fall in the incidence of acut e appendicitis, an epidemiological study using HAA and Korner datasets for the years 1975-1994 was carried out to identify those children an d young adults undergoing appendicectomy for acute appendicitis. The o verall incidence of acute appendicitis fell from 1.84/1000 to 1.17/100 0. This fall was statistically significant (R-2 = 0.74, P < 0.01). The decrease was significant in both males (overall reduction, 34%) and f emales (overall reduction, 40%). No significant reduction was observed in either males or females between 15 and 19 years of age. The overal l reduction remains essentially unexplained, but may have implications for health planning and provision of services.