Hospitalizations and in-hospital mortality for inflammatory bowel disease in Brazil

BACKGROUND: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is associated with complications, frequent hospitalizations, surgery and death. The introduction of biologic drugs into the therapeutic arsenal in the last two decades, combined with an expansion of immunosuppressant therapy, has changed IBD management and may have altered the profile of hospitalizations and in-hospital mortality (IHM) due to IBD. AIM: To describe hospitalizations from 2008 to 2018 and to analyze IHM from 1998 to 2017 for IBD in Brazil. METHODS: This observational, retrospective, ecological study used secondary data on hospitalizations for IBD in Brazil for 2008-2018 to describe hospitalizations and for 1998-2017 to analyze IHM. Hospitalization data were obtained from the Hospital Information System of the Brazilian Unified Health System and population data from demographic censuses. The following variables were analyzed: Number of deaths and hospitalizations, length of hospital stay, financial costs of hospitalization, sex, age, ethnicity and type of hospital admission. The Midwest and South regions had the highest hospitalization rates (3.27 and 3.17, respectively). A higher IHM rate was observed for nonelective admissions (2.88), which accounted for 81% of IBD hospitalizations. The total cost of IBD hospitalizations in 2017 exhibited an increase of 37.5% compared to 2008. CONCLUSION: There has been a notable reduction in the number of hospitalizations for IBD in Brazil over 20 years. IHM rates varied and did not follow a linear trend.