NATIONAL HARBOR, MD. — Eosinophilic esophagitis affects an estimated 52 per 100,000 Americans, while eosinophilic gastritis/colitis affects about 28 per 100,000, according to the results of the first nationwide study to investigate the disease burden of eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorders.
Previous epidemiologic studies of eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorders have been limited to specific regions of the country surrounding a tertiary referral center, with published estimates of eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) ranging from 7.3 per 100,000 children in West Virginia (Am. J. Gastroenterol. 2007;102:2281-5) to 55 per 100,000 in Olmstead County, Minn. (Clin. Gastroenterol. Hepatol. 2009;7:1055-61).
The current study, conducted via an e-mail survey of pediatric and adult gastroenterologists, demonstrated wide variations in the rates of both EoE and eosinophilic gastritis/eosinophilic colitis (EG/EC) in different parts of the country, Dr. Wendy M. Book said at the annual meeting of the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition (NASPGHAN).
Electronic surveys were e-mailed to all physician members of NASPGHAN (total 1,423), the American College of Gastroenterology (5,789), and the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (3,621). The total response rate was 17%, including 866 allergy-immunology specialists, 333 pediatric gastroenterologists, and 602 adult gastroenterologists. Just over half (55%) practiced in urban settings, while 41% were suburban and 4% were rural. Fifty-nine percent were in private practice.
Analyses included only the gastroenterologists, in order to avoid possible duplication of patients. For EoE, the pediatric gastroenterologists reported seeing an average of 20.2 individual patients per year, while the adult gastroenterologists reported an average of 10.7 annually.
Based on those numbers and U.S. census data, Dr. Book said there are an estimated 158,705 patients with EoE in the United States, with a prevalence of 52.2 per 100,000 U.S. population. For EG/EC, the pediatric gastroenterologists reported seeing an average of 8.9 patients per year while the adult gastroenterologists reported 5.9/year, for an estimated 85,281, or 28.1/100,000, said Dr. Book, of the department of internal medicine at Emory University, Atlanta.
The disease burden of patients seen with EoE was highest in the U.S. Northeast, followed by the South, the Midwest, and the West.
Dr. Book is president of the nonprofit organization American Partnership for Eosinophilic Disorders (www.apfed.org