Trends in hospitalizations associated with gastroenteritis among adults inthe United States, 1979-1995

Gastroenteritis (GE) is among the most common illnesses of humans but the b urden of disease, its epidemiology, and the distribution of pathogens in ad ults have not been fully examined. This information is needed to plan preve ntion strategies particularly for high-risk groups. This study is a retrosp ective analysis of data from the National Hospital Discharge Survey for the years 1979 through 1995 which describes the disease burden and epidemiolog y of hospitalizations associated with GE among adults in the United States. Diarrhoea was listed as a diagnosis on an average of 452000 hospital disch arges per year representing 1.5 % of all hospitalizations among adults. The annual number of GE hospitalizations has decreased by 20 % from approximat ely 500000 in 1979 to 400000 in 1995. The aetiology of 78 % of cases coded as GE was undetermined. Until the aetiology of disease can be better establ ished, specific strategies for prevention cannot be developed.