Use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and proton pump inhibitors in correlation with incidence, recurrence and death of peptic ulcer bleeding: an ecological study

BACKGROUND: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are regarded as two types of drugs that respectively increase and decrease the risk of peptic ulcer bleeding. However, their relation to occurrence, recurrence and death of bleeding in the population level is not clear. STUDY OBJECTIVE: To clarify recent calendar-time correlations between sales of NSAIDs and PPIs and the occurrence of peptic ulcer bleeding, re-bleeding and death. DESIGN: Ecological study. RESULTS: The time trend of peptic ulcer bleeding did not correlate with PPI sales but did correlate with NSAIDs in mem (R(male)=0.6571, P(male)=0.05). Sales of PPIs (inverse) and NSAIDs correlated with re-bleeding in women (R(male)=−0.8754, P(male)=0.002 and R(female)=0.7161, P(female)=0.03, respectively), but not in men. An inverse correlation between PPI sales and 30-day death after bleeding was found (R(male)=−0.9392, P(male)=0.0002 and R(female)=−0.8561, P(female)=0.003), and NSAID sales were found to correlate with increased death after bleeding ((R(male)=0.7278, P(male)=0.03, R(female)=0.7858, P(female)=0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The sales of NSAIDs and PPIs correlate with recurrence of peptic ulcer bleeding in women and death after peptic ulcer bleeding in both genders in the population level.