The effect of gender on the rates of hospitalization for gastrointestinal illnesses.

OBJECTIVES

Over the years, reports have indicated that many medical illnesses show a predilection for one of the genders. Such observations are important, in part, because they may provide insights into the pathophysiology of the illness. Unfortunately, these observations often have been based on small subsets of the population, and hence may contain sampling bias.

METHODS

Our study reviews computerized data regarding all hospitalizations in the State of Illinois over a 1-yr period for all gastrointestinal illnesses.

RESULTS

We noted that the gender distribution for all gastrointestinal illnesses is highly (p <0.001) significant. We found 20 conditions with predominant (p <0.01) female representation, including cholelithiasis, diverticulosis, and nonspecific enteritis. We also noted eight conditions with predominately (p <0.01) male representation, including acute appendicitis, inguinal hernia, chronic liver disease, and duodenal ulcer. Twenty remaining conditions had no significant differences in female/male distribution: those included ulcerative colitis, gastrointestinal hemorrhage, and esophageal illnesses.

CONCLUSIONS

We conclude that the use of a large, computer-based database permits the observation of hospitalization rates based on gender, and that such differences may have impact on the perceptions and practice of medical care.