Pancreatitis in remote Australia: an indigenous perspective

Abstract

In Australia, pancreatitis has been associated with gallstones in approximately 35% of cases and alcohol in approximately 25% of cases. The present study was performed to analyse the aetiology of pancreatitis in patients admitted to a remote Australian hospital that has a population base comprising both indigenous and non-indigenous people. A retrospective study was conducted of all cases of pancreatitis admitted to the Alice Springs Hospital from August 1993 to August 1999. One hundred and two patient records were examined, and 77% of these patients were Aboriginal. Alcohol was the most common aetiological factor (64%), with gallstone disease being the next most common. Aboriginal patients with pancreatitis were younger than non-Aboriginal patients ( P = 0.0304) and were also more likely to have alcohol as their cause of pancreatitis ( P = 0.035), especially if they were male. In males, alcohol was implicated in at least 70% of cases. In females, the causes were gallstone disease (41%) and alcohol (49%). Patients with gallstone disease were significantly older than patients with other causes of pancreatitis ( P = 0.000). There was an overall 30% increase in admission rate per year, which was primarily due to an increase in the number of Aboriginal admissions (36% per year) ( P = 0.000). The present study highlights a difference in the aetiology of pancreatitis in Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people from a remote Australian population.