Birth Prevalence of Gastroschisis in the United States: 2016-2022.

Objectives: The prevalence of gastroschisis has been increasing for decades globally across all ages and races/ethnicities and is one of few birth defects with rising prevalence in both developing and developed countries. However, there are some indications that rates in the United States may be declining. We aim to investigate national gastroschisis prevalence with 3 independent large-scale databases. We hypothesize that from 2016-2022, the data will congruently reveal a decline in gastroschisis prevalence in the United States.

Methods: This study is a retrospective cross-sectional database review of 3 national datasets: 1 clinical outcomes-based dataset (the American College of Surgeons [ACS] National Surgical Quality Improvement Program-Pediatric [NSQIP-P] dataset), 1 administrative dataset (the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project-National Inpatient Sample [HCUP-NIS]), and 1 public health-based dataset (the Center for Disease Control and Prevention Wide-ranging ONline Data for Epidemiologic Research [CDC WONDER]). Datasets were analyzed from 2016-2021/2022 for gastroschisis prevalence.

Results: From 2016-2022, the ACS NSQIP-P dataset revealed a decline in gastroschisis frequency from 0.32 to 0.19 per 100 infants. The HCUP-NIS dataset demonstrated a decline from 3.32 to 2.46 per 10 000 births. CDC WONDER data revealed a decline from 2.43 to 1.60 per 10 000 births.

Conclusion: From 2016-2022, 3 large-scale national datasets congruently reveal a decline in gastroschisis prevalence in the United States for the first time in decades. The cause is likely multifactorial and should be further investigated.