%0 Journal Article
%T Changes in characteristics of gastroenterology center inpatients in Japan because of rapidly aging society.
%A Fukunishi Y
%A Hiraoka A
%A Tada F
%A Fukumoto M
%A Matsuda T
%A Matsuoka K
%A Nakatani K
%A Yanagihara E
%A Saneto H
%A Izumoto H
%A Murakami T
%A Onishi K
%A Kitahata S
%A Kanemitsu-Okada K
%A Kawamura T
%A Kuroda T
%A Miyata H
%A Tsubouchi E
%A Hanaoka J
%A Watanabe J
%A Ohtani H
%A Yoshida O
%A Hirooka M
%A Abe M
%A Matsuura B
%A Ninomiya T
%A Hiasa Y
%J J Gastroenterol Hepatol
%V 39
%N 8
%D 2024 Aug 18
%M 38634347
%F 4.369
%R 10.1111/jgh.16557
%X <B>OBJECTIVE: </B>Rapidly aging societies have become a major issue worldwide including Japan. This study aimed to elucidate relative changes in the characteristics of inpatients in Japan related to this issue.<BR><B>METHODS: </B>A total of 23 835 Japanese inpatients treated from 2010 to 2021 were enrolled (2010-2013, period I; 2014-2017, period II; 2018-2021, period III). Changes in clinical features were retrospectively analyzed based on ICD-10 diagnosis data.<BR><B>RESULTS: </B>The percentage of patients aged over 75 years increased over time (period I, 38.0%; II, 39.5%, III, 41.4%). Emergency admissions comprised 27.5% of all in period I, which increased to 43.2% in period II and again to 44.5% in period III (P < 0.001). In period I, gastrointestinal disease, liver disease, pancreatic-biliary disease, and other disease types were noted in 47.4%, 29.5%, 19.2%, and 3.9%, respectively, while those values were 44.0%, 18.0%, 33.9%, and 4.1%, respectively, in period III (P < 0.001). The frequency of liver disease decreased by approximately 0.6-fold from periods I to III, while that of biliary-pancreatic disease increased by approximately 1.8-fold during that time. Both percentage and actual numbers of patients with biliary-pancreatic disease increased during the examined periods. Analysis of changes in the proportion of organs affected by malignancy during periods I, II, and III showed a marked increase in cases of biliary-pancreatic malignancy (11.6%, 19.5%, 26.6%, respectively) (P < 0.001).<BR><B>CONCLUSIONS: </B>In association with the rapidly aging Japanese society, there has been an increasing frequency of biliary-pancreatic disease cases requiring hospitalization for treatment in the west Japan region of Shikoku.