title: Seasonal Variation in Diverticulitis: Evidence From Both Hemispheres.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Diverticulitis is a common and morbid disease with incompletely understood risk factors and pathophysiology. Geographic and, recently, seasonal trends in diverticulitis have been described in the United States.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to investigate and compare seasonal trends in urgent hospital admission for diverticulitis in geographically distinct populations in the northern and southern hemispheres.
  
  
  METHODS
  Inpatient, urgent admissions for diverticulitis were identified within the Dr Foster Intelligence Global Comparators Dataset, a global benchmarking collaborative.
  
  
  METHODS
  Admissions to participating hospitals in the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States were identified between 2008 and 2013.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 18,672 urgent admissions for diverticulitis were identified among 5.5-million admissions.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four separate hypothesis testing methods were used to identify seasonal trends in diverticulitis admissions among international patient populations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seasonal trends were present in all 3 countries. A summer peak was observed in both hemispheres using multiple statistical testing methods. Logistic regression analyses identified summer months as significantly associated with diverticulitis admission in all 3 countries.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study is limited by restriction to inpatient admissions, reliance on administrative data, and participation of select hospitals within the database.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These data suggest a shared seasonal risk factor among geographically distinct populations for diverticulitis.
authors: 1 Center for Surgery and Public Health at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 2 Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 3 Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 4 St Mark's Hospital, North West London NHS Trust, London, United Kingdom 5 Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors: Joel T
authors: JT
authors: Adler
authors: David C
authors: DC
authors: Chang
authors: Andrew T
authors: AT
authors: Chan
authors: Omar
authors: O
authors: Faiz
authors: Lillias H
authors: LH
authors: Maguire
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001315:Australia; D004239:Diverticulitis, Colonic / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012621:Seasons; D006113:United Kingdom; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult