Epidemiology of first-attack acute pancreatitis in Taiwan from 2000 through 2009: a nationwide population-based study.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to describe a 10-year epidemiological trend of patients with first-attack acute pancreatitis (AP) in Taiwan.

METHODS: We analyzed 107,349 patients with first-attack AP from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database between 2000 and 2009. Severe cases were defined according to a modified Atlanta classification. Incidence rates were standardized by direct method.

RESULTS: During the study period, the median age of the patients increased from 49 to 55 years and the proportion of men decreased from 66.8% to 62.3%. The averaged annual incidence of first-attack AP was estimated at 36.9 per 100,000 persons and changed only slightly. Stratified analyses showed that the incidence increased in children (<15 years), elderly people (≥ 65 years), and patients with biliary cause, but decreased in young to middle-aged men (15-64 years). The prevalence of severe cases increased from 21.0% to 22.3%, which was mainly caused by an increase of acute organ dysfunction (from 9.7% to 14.1%). Despite that, hospital mortality decreased from 4.3% to 3.3% for all cases and from 18.5% to 13.3% for severe ones.

CONCLUSIONS: The overall incidence of first-attack AP changed slightly in Taiwan, which differs from the increasing trend observed in most Western countries. Although more patients had severe attacks in recent years, hospital mortality declined.