Peptic ulcer among rural population in a selected region of south-eastern Poland.

Environmental conditioning of peptic ulcer, territorial variations in the occurrence of this disease, as well as reports indicating changes in the natural history of peptic ulcer provided incentives to undertake the present study. The aim of the study was to determine whether the above-mentioned changes in the course of peptic ulcer also concerned rural population from the agricultural region of south-eastern Poland. The study covered 1,647 patients with peptic ulcer treated in the General Surgery Ward at the Specialist Hospital in Brzozów (Rzeszów Region) between 1980-1999. The analysis was conducted based on data obtained from the documentation of the General Surgery Ward. In order to determine changes in the parameters examined taking place during the 20 year period, it was divided into 4 sub-periods of 5 years each. The total number of patients treated due for peptic ulcer was 1,647, including 470 patients with gastric ulcer (28.5%), 1,137 patients with duodenal ulcer (69.0%) and 40 with gastric and duodenal ulcer (2.5%). A decrease was noted in the number of patients treated for peptic ulcer during Period I of observation (1980-1984) and Period IV (1995-1999) - from 460 down to 348 patients p < 0.0001. Peptic ulcer more often affected males than females (70.2% and 29.8% respectively), most frequently in the age groups 41-50 (20.9%) and 51-60 (20.0%). Gastric ulcer was most often noted in the age groups 51-60 (24.4%) and 61-70 (23.8 %), whereas duodenal ulcer in the age groups 42-50 (22.4%) and 31-40 (20.6%). During the study period (1980-1999), a decrease was observed in the number of patients treated for peptic ulcer. Hospitalization due to peptic ulcer decreased, mainly in patients with duodenal ulcer, and to a smaller degree among those with gastric ulcer. The relationship was observed between the incidence of peptic ulcer and the site of ulcer, sex and age of patients. Changes observed in hospitalization due to peptic ulcer among rural population in the south-eastern region of Poland was similar to those observed in other regions of Poland and the majority of European countries.