Digestive Diseases News
Fall 2008

NDDIC Answers More Than 5,700 Queries in 2007

The National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NDDIC) responded to 5,729 requests for information during calendar year 2007. The majority of these inquiries—61 percent—came from patients, their families or friends, and the general public, while 28 percent came from health care professionals, according to Kathy Kranzfelder, director of the Clearinghouse.

In 2005, only 19 percent of inquiries came from health professionals, said Kranzfelder, who presented an update on Clearinghouse activities at the NDDIC’s annual Coordinating Panel Meeting in June. Last year, more than half of Clearinghouse customers—56 percent—learned about the NDDIC through the Internet. The breakdown of NDDIC customers in 2007 is depicted in the graph on the right.

Nearly half of the Clearinghouse’s requests for information still come through traditional methods—mail and telephone orders. However, online orders have increased to 47 percent last year from 29 percent in 2006. In 2007, the NDDIC website received about 365,000 visits per week.

Kranzfelder said the Clearinghouse now offers TTY telephone service, which increases accessibility to inquiry response services for people who are hearing or speech impaired.

In 2007, the most popular NDDIC publications were

• Celiac Disease
• What I need to know about Irritable Bowel Syndrome
• What I need to know about Hepatitis C
• What I need to know about Celiac Disease
• Diverticulosis and Diverticulitis

To visit the Clearinghouse website, go to www.digestive.niddk.nih.gov.

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NIH Publication No. 09–4552
December 2008