School of Medicine Publications and Presentations

Disparities in Acute Diverticulitis Outcomes: A Retrospective Study on the Influence of Age, Ethnicity, and Diabetes in Hispanic Patients

Document Type

Abstract

Publication Date

Winter 12-18-2025

Abstract

Introduction: Diverticulitis is presumed to be a disease that occurs usually in the middle age to elderly population. Recent studies have demonstrated that Hispanic and diabetic population tend to have a higher incidence of diverticulitis. The Rio Grande Valley (RGV) is known to have a 90% Hispanic/Latino population and with a high rate of obesity and diabetes. Due to the large population of Hispanic/Latino persons, high prevalence of diabetes, and obesity in the RGV region, this may produce a higher incidence and other prognostic outcomes of acute diverticulitis within the local population. The aim of this study is to evaluate for associations in ethnicity, age groups (spanning from young adult to the elderly), and comorbid conditions like diabetes impact the outcomes of acute diverticulitis in Hispanic population.

Methods: A single-center retrospective study was conducted which involved reviewing chart of its patient's population. All patients aged >18 yrs diagnosed with acute diverticulitis between January 2020- August 2024 were included in the study. Exclusion criteria included frail patients who were not eligible for surgical intervention and age < 18 yrs. Primary outcome of this study is to investigate if different age groups, Hispanic vs non-Hispanic and other comorbidities impacted the severity outcomes of diverticulitis in the hospital setting. Sepsis, perforation, and requiring surgical intervention were taken as severity indicators of diverticulitis. For Statistical analysis, the chi-square test, Mann Whiteny U test, Spearman correlation, Kruskal Willis test and binary logistic regression were performed.

Results: Mean age of patient population was 60.1048 yrs with (CI 57.25-62.95), mean BMI 32.76 with CI (31.36-34.16). 85.1% patients were Hispanics, 44.8% male and 33.3% patient population were diabetic.

  • Higher Surgical Intervention Rates: Diabetic and Hispanic patients exhibited higher surgical intervention rates due to perforation.

  • Perforation Rates: Hispanic patients had significantly higher perforation rates compared to other groups.

  • Previous Attacks: Patients with prior diverticulitis attacks had higher perforation rates during the index hospitalization.

  • Age and SIRS: Patients over 60 years old had higher rates of SIRS at presentation compared to younger individuals.

  • BMI and Clinical Outcomes: No significant correlation was found between BMI and surgical intervention, recurrent attacks, or the severity of the condition.

  • Comorbidities: There was no statistically significant relation between comorbidities such as Hyperlipidemia, or hypertension (HTN) and perforation rates, surgical intervention, SIRS, or recurrent attacks.

  • Recurrent Attacks: No statistically significant relation was found between gender, ethnicity, and the frequency of recurrent attacks.

Conclusion: Our study shows that Hispanic and diabetic patients have higher rates of surgical intervention due to perforation. No statistical difference was found with BMI and severity of diverticulitis. There are certain limitations to our study such as a smaller number of patients. More studies are required to validate the statement regarding other outcome variables.

Academic Level

resident

Mentor/PI Department

Internal Medicine

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