TOPLINE

Among adults with medically attended acute gastroenteritis (AGE), those with cardiovascular disease (CVD) had increased risk for hospitalization within 3 days, and those with two or more underlying conditions had higher risk than those without such conditions. 

METHODOLOGY

• Researchers conducted a retrospective cohort study of US adults diagnosed with all-cause AGE or cause-specified norovirus (July 2022-June 2024) to evaluate 3-day hospitalization frequency and its association with age and underlying conditions.
• The final analysis included 1,705,514 all-cause AGE episodes (median age, 69 years; 65.1% women) and 5805 norovirus AGE episodes (median age, 72 years; 59.0% women).
• Researchers assessed about 10 underlying medical conditions including blood disorders, CVD, chronic respiratory disease, and chronic kidney disease, identified from claims in the 365 days prior to diagnosis; Charlson-Quan Comorbidity Index (CCI) was calculated. 
• Researchers evaluated any inpatient hospitalization within 3 days of the episode index date.

TAKEAWAY

• Hospitalization occurred within 3 days for 11.3% of all-cause AGE episodes and 44.6% of norovirus-coded episodes. Among hospitalized patients, 38.4% and 34.2%, respectively, required ICU admission.
• CVD was associated with the highest relative risk for acute hospitalization (1.37-1.67-fold) after adjusting for other conditions.
• Episodes with any underlying condition were associated with 2.02-2.52-fold increased risk for hospitalization, and the risk increased for episodes with two or more conditions. The risk was higher in those with a CCI of two and above vs one.
• Older adults had higher absolute hospitalization rates. Having any underlying condition was linked to increased hospitalization risk more in adults aged 18-64 years than in those aged 65 and older.

IN PRACTICE

"[The] findings highlight the importance of targeted monitoring and management strategies for at- risk adults across the age spectrum, not only among the elderly," the authors of the study wrote.

SOURCE

The study was led by John Shen, MSPH, Datavant, Inc., in Phoenix, Arizona. It was published online on July 27 in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.

LIMITATIONS

The analysis did not exclude AGE episodes initially diagnosed during inpatient encounters. The study lacked a washout period for prior hospitalizations. Researchers could not reliably exclude hospital-acquired infections. 

DISCLOSURES

The study was funded by Moderna, Inc. Several authors reported being employees of Moderna, Inc. and may have held stock or stock options in the company. Multiple authors reported being employees of Datavant, Inc. One author reported receiving institutional support from Bavarian-Nordic, Inc. and consultancy with Merck and Epidemiology Research Methods. Additional author disclosures are reported in the original article.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.