French epidemiological data regarding home enteral nutrition

French epidemiological data regarding home enteral nutrition (HEN) are not well known and give rise to imprecise estimates. In a first study, and using health insurance data based on NED specific packages (installation package, follow-up packages), we were able to determine the overall incidence and prevalence of the global population (children and adults). This second study targets the adult population to obtain more accurate data especially by trying to determine the pathologies associated with the NED. Patients and methods. - A retrospective and observational study covering the year 2012 (from 01/01 to 31/12/2012) has been carried out, with the data of the adult population aged over 15 years, by defining three age groups: 15-39 years, 40-64 years, over 65 years. The databases of the health insurance allowed to obtain on the one hand, the number of patients who started a NED and on the other hand, the number of patients followed in NED. The target population (health insurance beneficiary population) being known, these data allowed to calculate incidence and prevalence, respectively. The data were also crossed with the thirty long-term diseases file of health national insurance (ALD 30), allowing patients to be classified into five categories: cancer, neurology, chronic intestinal inflammatory diseases, organ deficiency and others. Results. - Data from 11 regions, totaling 21.8 million adults, were obtained. The average incidence and prevalence of NED was estimated at 29/100,000 hab/yr and 67/100,000 hab/yr, respectively. The main pathologies were cancer and neurology, but with variations depending on age groups. Inflammatory bowel diseases were the second cause of NED in the age range 15-39 years. Conclusion. - This is the first reliable study on the epidemiology of NED in adults in France. The projection of these figures to the entire French adult population leads to an estimate of around 39,000 patients per year benefiting from national health insurance for HEN, mainly for cancer and neurological diseases. (C) 2019 Societe francophone nutrition clinique et metabolisme (SFNCM), Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.