Overestimation of the prevalence of eosinophilic colitis with reliance on a single billing code
Eosinophilic colitis (EC) is a rare disorder characterized by eosinophilic inflammation of the colon causing diarrhea, bloody stool, nausea, constipation and abdominal pain. The Consortium for Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Disease Research sought to undertake the first multi-center study of the EC population, but faced challenges with meeting enrollment goals that were based on initial estimates. To understand the reason for this, we performed chart review of patients with ICD codes for EC at 8 tertiary care centers. Chart review revealed that the isolated use of ICD codes overestimated EC rates in the pediatric population.
epidemiology↗