Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Aug 14, 2023; 29(30): 4671-4684
Published online Aug 14, 2023. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v29.i30.4671
Incidence, prevalence, and comorbidities of chronic pancreatitis: A 7-year population-based study
Qiu-Yu Cai, Kun Tan, Xue-Li Zhang, Xu Han, Jing-Ping Pan, Zhi-Yin Huang, Cheng-Wei Tang, Jing Li
Qiu-Yu Cai, Zhi-Yin Huang, Cheng-Wei Tang, Jing Li, Department of Gastroenterology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China
Kun Tan, Xue-Li Zhang, Xu Han, Jing-Ping Pan, Sichuan Health Information Association, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China
Author contributions: Cai QY analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript; Tan K and Zhang XL collected the data; Han X established the database and cleaned the data; Pan JP managed the data; Huang ZY analyzed the data; Tang CW designed the study and revised the manuscript; Li J designed the study and revised the manuscript.
Supported by the Special Project on “Digital Development of Health” of the Health Information Center of Sichuan Province, China, No. 2021ZXKY06007; and the National Natural Science Fund of China, No. 82241054 and 82000613.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the biomedical ethics review committee of West China Hospital, Sichuan University.
Informed consent statement: The requirement for informed consent was waived in this study.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Jing Li, MD, PhD, Doctor, Department of Gastroenterology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, No. 37 Guoxue Xiang, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China. melody224@163.com
Received: March 27, 2023
Peer-review started: March 27, 2023
First decision: April 26, 2023
Revised: May 20, 2023
Accepted: July 11, 2023
Article in press: July 11, 2023
Published online: August 14, 2023
Processing time: 136 Days and 2.6 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Chronic pancreatitis (CP) is a fibroinflammatory syndrome leading to reduced quality of life and shortened life expectancy. Population-based estimates of the prevalence and incidence of CP in China are scarce.

Research motivation

Accurate epidemiological estimates of CP are vital in shaping health resource allocation and medical provider training priorities.

Research objectives

To evaluate the prevalence and time trends of the incidence of CP and describe the comorbidities and disease burden of CP in Sichuan Province, China.

Research methods

Data on CP from 2015 to 2021 were obtained from the Health Information Center of Sichuan Province. During the study period, a total of 38090 individuals were diagnosed with CP in Sichuan Province. The yearly incidence rate and point prevalence rate (December 31, 2021) of CP were calculated. The prevalence of comorbid conditions in CP patients was estimated. The annual number of CP-related hospitalizations, hospital length of stay, and costs for hospitalization for CP were evaluated. Yearly incidence rates were standardized for age by the direct method using the permanent population of Sichuan Province in the 2020 census as the standard population. An analysis of variance test for the linearity of scaled variables and the Cochran-Armitage trend test for categorical data were performed to investigate the yearly trends, and a two-sided test with P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Research results

The 38090 CP patients comprised 23280 males and 14810 females. The mean age of patients at CP diagnosis was 57.83 years, with males (55.87 years) being younger than females (60.11 years) (P < 0.001). The mean incidence rate of CP during the study period was 6.81 per 100000 person-years, and the incidence of CP increased each year, from 4.03 per 100000 person-years in 2015 to 8.27 per 100000 person-years in 2021 (P < 0.001). The point prevalence rate of CP in 2021 was 45.52 per 100000 individuals for the total population, with rates of 55.04 per 100000 individuals for men and 35.78 per 100000 individuals for women (P < 0.001). Individuals aged 65 years or older had the highest prevalence of CP (113.38 per 100000 individuals) (P < 0.001). Diabetes (26.32%) was the most common comorbidity in CP patients. The number of CP-related hospitalizations increased from 3739 in 2015 to 11009 in 2021. The total costs for CP-related hospitalizations for CP patients over the study period were 667.96 million yuan, with an average of 17538 yuan per patient.

Research conclusions

The yearly incidence of CP increased in Sichuan Province, along with the absolute number of CP patients and associated costs for hospitalization between 2015 and 2021. The point prevalence rate of CP in 2021 was 45.52/100000 individuals for the total population. Diabetes (26.32%), other metabolic-related diseases, and pancreatic cancer are among the common comorbidities in CP patients. The current work shows that CP continues to place a heavy burden on patients and the healthcare system.

Research perspectives

Further studies are needed to identify CP and its comorbidities earlier, triggering potentially preventive management to relieve the disease burden.