Su1079 Changes in the Incidence and Prevalence of Cirrhosis in the National Veterans Administration Over a Decade: 2002-2012

BACKGROUND: Cirrhosis is associated with a high morbidity and mortality, and is a risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma. Yet there is limited information regarding the burden of cirrhosis from population-based studies in the U.S. We aimed to determine the annual incidence and prevalence of cirrhosis as well as time trends in the underlying etiology in a national veterans cohort. METHODS: Using the Veterans Administration Corporate Data Warehouse, we calculated the time trends in the annual incidence and prevalence of overall cirrhosis and decompensated cirrhosis between 2002 and 2012. In addition to the overall trends, we also examined the time trends by subgroups based on the underlying etiology for liver disease. We defined cirrhosis on the basis of previously validated ICD-9 code based algorithms. We used direct standardization method to adjust the time trends for changing age of the cohort (where 2002 VA population used as standard), and used joinpoint regression models to determine the magnitude of these time trends (by calculating average annual percentage change (AAPC)). RESULTS: The age-adjusted incidence rates of cirrhosis per 100 persons slightly increased from 0.22 (95% CI 0.21-0.22) in 2002 to 0.23 in 2012 (95% CI 0.23-0.24). The average annual percentage change (AAPC) in the age-adjusted incidence was 1.76% (p