20 years of hospital admissions for peptic ulcer in England and Wales.

Mortality and hospital admission rates for peptic ulcer in England and Wales have fallen in the past twenty years. Within this pattern there has been a wide range of variation. Perforated ulcers have become less common in young adults, and perforated gastric ulcers in young men now occur with between a quarter and a tenth of their previous frequency. Perforated duodenal ulcer has become more common in middle-aged and elderly women. The reasons for these changes are not understood, but they are likely to reflect the impact of environmental influences on people of different ages.