Current epidemiological status of causes of disease among patients with liver disease hospitalized in Department of Infectious Diseases in a large general hospital within the past 20 years

Objective To investigate the causes of disease among patients with liver disease hospitalized in Department of Infectious Diseases in our hospital and the changes in such causes within the past 20 years. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed for the clinical data of 7570 patients who were admitted to our hospital from January 1995 to December 2015. The chi-square test was used for the statistical analysis of constituent ratio. Results Of all 7570 patients with liver disease, 4930 (65.13%) had viral hepatitis, 332 (4.39%) had immune disease, 215 (2.84%) had drug-induced liver injury, 192 (2.54%) had fatty liver disease, 88 (1.16%) had schistosome-induced liver disease, 160 (2.11%) had inherited metabolic diseases, and 20 (0.13%) had vascular disease; 689 (9.1%) still had no clear cause of disease at discharge. The proportion of patients with viral hepatitis was 77.61% in the first 10 years and 59.19% in the last 10 years (P < 0.01). As for liver disease caused by hepatotropic virus, there were significant increases in the proportion of patients with hepatitis C or hepatitis E from the first to the last 10 years (hepatitis C: 2.24% vs 15.56%, P < 0.01; hepatitis E: 18.61% vs 23.07%, P < 0.05), while there were significant reductions in the proportion of patients with hepatitis B (68.14% vs 60.01%, P < 0.05) or hepatitis A (10.7% vs 1.36%, P < 0.05). The proportion of patients with immune diseases was 0.82% in the first 10 years and 6.08% in the last 10 years (P < 0.01). There were also certain changes in the proportion of patients with liver disease caused by other reasons. Conclusion There is a large proportion of patients with viral hepatitis among patients with liver disease hospitalized in Department of Infectious Diseases in a large general hospital, especially hepatitis B and E caused by hepatotropic virus. There is a certain change in the epidemiology of liver disease within the past 20 years, with a reduction in the proportion of patients with viral hepatitis and an increase in the proportion of patients with non-infectious liver diseases. There is a large proportion of patients with unknown causes of liver disease. Key words: Liver disease; Spectrum; Retrospective study