National trends in hospital morbidity and mortality from pancreatic cancer in Ecuador, 2008-2023.
AI interpretation is pending for this paper.
Open original publication →What the AI sees
Not AI summarized yet.
Research significance
Pending deeper interpretation.
Source abstract
BACKGROUND: Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal malignancies and represents a growing public health challenge. In Ecuador, national evidence on hospital-based morbidity and mortality remains scarce, limiting the characterization of disease burden and the development of cancer surveillance and care strategies. OBJECTIVE: To assess national trends in hospital morbidity and mortality from pancreatic cancer in Ecuador from 2008 to 2023. METHODS: This retrospective descriptive time-series study used secondary administrative data from the National Institute of Statistics and Census of Ecuador. Hospital discharge and death certificate-based mortality records coded as C25 according to ICD-10 were included. Crude and age-standardized hospital morbidity and mortality rates were calculated annually per 100,000 inhabitants. Age-standardized rates were estimated by the direct method using the WHO World Standard Population. Temporal trends were assessed using log-linear regression and annual percent change estimates with 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS: Between 2008 and 2023, 10,818 hospital discharge records and 6573 deaths due to pancreatic cancer were identified. Men accounted for 50.5% of hospital discharge records, and the most frequent age group was 60-69 years. The crude hospital morbidity rate increased from 2.31 to 7.50 per 100,000 inhabitants, while the age-standardized rate increased from 3.18 to 7.90 per 100,000 inhabitants. This increase was statistically significant for both crude rates (annual percent change: 8.56%; 95% CI: 6.95-10.19; p < 0.001) and age-standardized rates (annual percent change: 6.63%; 95% CI: 5.02-8.26; p < 0.001). Sex-specific age-standardized hospital morbidity rates increased in both men and women and were broadly comparable in 2023. Crude mortality increased from 2.06 to 2.89 per 100,000 inhabitants. In contrast, age-standardized mortality remained relatively stable, changing from 2.90 to 2.95 per 100,000 inhabitants, with no statistically significant annual change (annual percent change: 0.46%; 95% CI: -0.58-1.51; p = 0.359). Hospital discharge records were concentrated among urban residents and in the Sierra and Coast regions. CONCLUSIONS: Hospital morbidity from pancreatic cancer increased significantly in Ecuador between 2008 and 2023, whereas age-standardized mortality showed no significant temporal change. These findings indicate a growing hospital burden and emphasize the need to strengthen cancer surveillance systems, improve mortality certification, enhance timely diagnostic capacity, and reduce inequities in access to specialized oncologic care across Ecuador.