Upper gastrointestinal bleeding in Scotland 2000‐2015: trends in demographics, aetiology and outcomes

Summary Background Upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) remains a common cause of presentation and admission to hospital in the UK, with the incidence in Scotland one of the highest in the world. Aims To investigate the difference in demographics, deprivation quintiles, aetiology of bleeding and clinical outcomes in patients presenting with UGIB to hospitals across Scotland over a 16‐year period Methods Data were collected using the National Data Catalogue and analysed retrospectively using the National Safe Haven. Results We included 129 404 patients. The annual number of patients presenting with UGIB remained similar over the 16‐year period. Mean age at admission increased from 59.2 to 61.4 years. There was a significant drop in variceal bleeding over time from 2.2% to 1.7% (P