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. 2025 Jul 29;9(4):e412.
doi: 10.1097/EE9.0000000000000412. eCollection 2025 Aug.

The occurrence of appendicitis varies according to latitudes and seasons: A French national retrospective study

Jean-François Hamel  1   2 , Chloé Saint-Dizier  3   4 , Antoine Lamer  3   4 , Dune Allard  2 , Tino Bienvenu  2 , Mathieu Levaillant  2 , Aurélien Venara  2   5   6
Affiliations

The occurrence of appendicitis varies according to latitudes and seasons: A French national retrospective study

Jean-François Hamel et al. Environ Epidemiol. .

Abstract

Background: Recent reports indicate that the occurrence of appendicitis follows a seasonal pattern and that there is an association between increased incidence and warmer weather. It is noteworthy that a reduction in the incidence of appendicitis has been observed in the Northern Hemisphere. The objective of this study is to present the epidemiological profile of appendicitis at the national level in France.

Methods: This retrospective observational study, based on data from the French National Discharge Database, encompasses all hospitalizations for appendicitis diagnosis between 2013 and 2022. The progression of appendicitis over time was assessed through time-series models. The incidence of appendicitis was also compared depending on year, gender, age, and latitude.

Results: It is noteworthy that the incidence of appendectomy in France exhibited a significant decrease between 2013 and 2022, with an average reduction of 2.1% annually. There was a significant decrease in the number of appendectomies performed on patients ≤20, while there was an increase in those >60. Furthermore, there was a seasonal pattern in the incidence of appendicitis, with a peak during the summer months. The seasonality remained consistent over time. Furthermore, there was a south-north gradient, with a higher number of appendectomies performed in the south.

Conclusion: Seasonality (summer vs. winter) and latitude (south vs. north) could be considered as a proxy for temperature. However, temperature alone cannot explain the observed variations in appendicitis occurrence, since the latter decreases over time, in parallel with global warming. It is likely that other environmental and ecological parameters may be responsible for these variations.

Keywords: Appendicitis; Data reuse; Environmental parameters; Epidemiology; France.

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Conflict of interest statement

Aurélien Venara has received speaker and consultant honoraria from Sanofi-Aventis, Thermofisher, Takeda, and Vifor. The other authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest with regard to the content of this report.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Number of appendectomies according to the year.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Ratio of male/female experiencing an appendectomy according to the year.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Number of appendectomies per year, according to the age class.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Percentage of complex appendicitis according to the age class, per year.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
SARIMA time-series models representing the number of appendicitis cases in France, according to the months.
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
Number of appendectomies per 100,000 inhabitants according to latitude on a yearly basis. G, groupe of latitude.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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