Clinical epidemiology of inflammatory bowel disease: incidence, prevalence, and environmental influences
Section snippets
Descriptive epidemiology
Descriptive epidemiology is the study of disease incidence, prevalence, and demographic factors such as age, gender, and race or ethnic group. Variations of incidence and prevalence of disease across age, gender, race, geographic region, or time may yield clues to the etiology of disease or at least identify areas that deserve further scrutiny. Moreover, studies of incidence and prevalence provide valuable information about the burden of illness to policy makers, funding agencies, resource
Cigarette smoking
Since the first widely publicized report of an inverse association between ulcerative colitis and cigarette smoking,58 many studies have confirmed this unusual finding59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74 (Table 3). The odds ratio for developing ulcerative colitis among current smokers is consistently less than 1; stated another way, current smokers seem to have a significantly decreased risk of ulcerative colitis. A 1989 meta-analysis noted that current smokers are
Conclusion
Despite years of investigation, the root causes of IBD are yet to be identified. Descriptive epidemiologic studies not only provide valuable information about the burden of illness, they highlight differences in incidence of IBD across age, time, and geographic region, suggesting that environmental factors can significantly modify the expression of these conditions. The strongest modifying factors identified thus far include family history of IBD, cigarette smoking, and appendectomy. Continued
References (177)
- et al.
Inflammatory bowel disease in a Swedish twin cohorta long-term follow-up of concordance and clinical characteristics
Gastroenterology
(2003) - et al.
Epidemiology of inflammatory bowel disease
Gastroenterol Clin North Am
(2002) Crohn’s disease in the northeastern and northern Isles of Scotlandan epidemiological review
Gastroenterology
(1992)- et al.
An epidemiologic study of inflammatory bowel disease in Rochester, New York. Hospital incidence
Gastroenterology
(1990) - et al.
Crohn’s disease in Olmsted County, Minnesota, 1940–1993incidence, prevalence, and survival
Gastroenterology
(1998) - et al.
Update on incidence and prevalence of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis in Olmsted County, Minnesota
Gastroenterology
(2003) - et al.
Geographic variation of inflammatory bowel disease within the United States
Gastroenterology
(1991) - et al.
Epidemiology of inflammatory bowel disease among U.S. military veterans
Gastroenterology
(1991) - et al.
Inflammatory bowel disease in African-American children living in Georgia
J Pediatr
(1998) - et al.
Prospective survey of childhood inflammatory bowel disease in the British Isles
Lancet
(2001)
The effects of migration on ulcerative colitisa three-year prospective study among Europeans and first- and second-generation South Asians in Leicester (1991–1994)
Am J Gastroenterol
Cigarette smoking and inflammatory bowel disease
Gastroenterology
Cigarette smoking and ulcerative colitisa case-control study
Mayo Clin Proc
Lack of association between smoking and Crohn’s disease but the usual association with ulcerative colitis in Jewish patients in Israela multicenter study
Am J Gastroenterol
Primary sclerosing cholangitis is associated with nonsmoking—a case-control study
Gastroenterology
Risk of primary sclerosing cholangitis is associated with nonsmoking behavior
Gastroenterology
Impact of cessation of smoking on the course of ulcerative colitis
Am J Gastroenterol
Lack of association between smoking and inflammatory bowel disease in Jewish patients in Israel
Gastroenterology
Tobacco consumption and disease duration are associated with fistulizing and stricturing behaviors in the first 8 years of Crohn’s disease
Am J Gastroenterol
Effect of cigarette smoking on recurrence of Crohn’s disease
Gastroenterology
Oral contraceptive use and smoking are risk factors for relapse in Crohn’s disease
Gastroenterology
Inflammatory bowel disease
N Engl J Med
Concordance of inflammatory bowel disease among Danish twins—results of a nationwide study
Scand J Gastroenterol
Epidemiology of inflammatory bowel disease in the county of Tubingen (West Germany)
Scand J Gastroenterol Suppl
Inflammatory bowel disease of the Faroe Islands, 1981–1988. A prospective epidemiologic studyprimary report
Scand J Gastroenterol Suppl
The incidence of Crohn’s disease in the Helsinki metropolitan area during 1975–1985
Ann Chir Gynaecol
Incidence and prevalence of ulcerative colitis in Copenhagen county from 1962 to 1987
Scand J Gastroenterol
Incidence and prevalence of Crohn’s disease in the county of Copenhagen, 1962–87a sixfold increase in incidence
Scand J Gastroenterol
Incidence of inflammatory bowel disease in northern France (1988–1990)
Gut
Ulcerative colitis and indeterminate colitis in the city of Malmo, Sweden. A 25-year incidence study
Scand J Gastroenterol
Incidence of Crohn’s disease in four counties in southeastern Norway, 1990–93. A prospective population-based study
Scand J Gastroenterol
Incidence of ulcerative colitis and indeterminate colitis in four counties of southeastern Norway, 1990–93. A prospective population-based study
Scand J Gastroenterol
Incidence of inflammatory bowel disease across Europeis there a difference between north and south? Results of the European Collaborative Study on Inflammatory Bowel Disease (EC-IBD)
Gut
Incidence of Crohn’s disease in Stockholm County 1955–1989
Gut
High incidence of inflammatory bowel disease in The Netherlandsresults of a prospective study
Dis Colon Rectum
Inflammatory bowel disease in Iceland, 1980–89. A retrospective nationwide epidemiologic study
Scand J Gastroenterol
Inflammatory bowel disease in Iceland, 1990–1994a prospective, nationwide, epidemiological study
Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol
Prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease in British 26 year oldsnational longitudinal birth cohort
BMJ
Crohn’s disease incidence in Cardiff from 1930an update for 1991–1995
Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol
Inflammatory bowel diseaseepidemiology and management in an English general practice population
Aliment Pharmacol Ther
Inflammatory bowel disease in northern Alberta. An epidemiologic study
J Clin Gastroenterol
Epidemiology of inflammatory bowel disease in a defined northern California population
West J Med
Crohn’s disease among ethnic groups in a large health maintenance organization
Gastroenterology
Epidemiology of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis in a central Canadian provincea population-based study
Am J Epidemiol
Ulcerative colitis in Olmsted County, Minnesota, 1940–1993incidence, prevalence, and survival
Gut
Small-area variations and sociodemographic correlates for the incidence of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis
Am J Epidemiol
Epidemiology of Crohn’s disease in Zagreb, Yugoslaviaa ten-year prospective study
Intl J Epidemiol
Ulcerative colitis in Zagreb, Yugoslaviaincidence and prevalence 1980–1989
Intl J Epidemiol
Incidence and prevalence of ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease in urban and rural areas of Spain from 1981 to 1988
J Clin Gastroenterol
A prospective epidemiologic study of Crohn’s disease in Heraklion, Crete. Incidence over a 5-year period
Scand J Gastroenterol
Cited by (2503)
The intestinal microbial metabolite acetyl L-carnitine improves gut inflammation and immune homeostasis via CADM2
2024, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta - Molecular Basis of DiseaseSimilar geographic distribution of mortality from multiple sclerosis, Hodgkin lymphoma, and inflammatory bowel disease in the United States
2024, Multiple Sclerosis and Related DisordersFexofenadine-loaded chitosan coated solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs): A potential oral therapy for ulcerative colitis
2024, European Journal of Pharmaceutics and BiopharmaceuticsIron oxide nanoparticles for inflammatory bowel disease: Recent advances in diagnosis and targeted drug therapy
2024, Applied Surface Science Advances
- 1
Dr. Loftus has served as a consultant for AstraZeneca and Novartis and has received research support from AstraZeneca, Procter and Gamble, and GlaxoSmithKline.