An epidemiological study of regional enteritis in the Gloucester area

Crohn's disease in northern Ireland - A retrospective survey of 159 cases

A RETROSPECTIVE survey of Crohn's disease in a circumscribed population was carried out to determine the incidence of the disease in Northern Ireland and to compare the findings with previous regional studies in the British Isles. One hundred and fifty-nine cases were selected by strict criteria for detailed examination. Epidemiological data is presented which demonstrates that Crohn's disease has a similar distribution in this population to that seen in other regions. The crude annual incidence rate of 1.3 per 100,000 lies in the lower half of the range of published figures.Remarkable findings were the higher incidence of Crohn's disease with increasing age, particularly in females and the significantly higher incidence in the urban population.

Effect of fuzzy partitioning in Crohn's disease classification: a neuro-fuzzy-based approach

Crohn's disease (CD) diagnosis is a tremendously serious health problem due to its ultimately effect on the gastrointestinal tract that leads to the need of complex medical assistance. In this study, the backpropagation neural network fuzzy classifier and a neuro-fuzzy model are combined for diagnosing the CD. Factor analysis is used for data dimension reduction. The effect on the system performance has been investigated when using fuzzy partitioning and dimension reduction. Additionally, further comparison is done between the different levels of the fuzzy partition to reach the optimal performance accuracy level. The performance evaluation of the proposed system is estimated using the classification accuracy and other metrics. The experimental results revealed that the classification with level-8 partitioning provides a classification accuracy of 97.67 %, with a sensitivity and specificity of 96.07 and 100 %, respectively.

Increasing incidence and prevalence of the inflammatory bowel diseases with time, based on systematic review

BACKGROUND & AIMS

We conducted a systematic review to determine changes in the worldwide incidence and prevalence of ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD) in different regions and with time.

METHODS

We performed a systematic literature search of MEDLINE (1950-2010; 8103 citations) and EMBASE (1980-2010; 4975 citations) to identify studies that were population based, included data that could be used to calculate incidence and prevalence, and reported separate data on UC and/or CD in full manuscripts (n = 260). We evaluated data from 167 studies from Europe (1930-2008), 52 studies from Asia and the Middle East (1950-2008), and 27 studies from North America (1920-2004). Maps were used to present worldwide differences in the incidence and prevalence of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs); time trends were determined using joinpoint regression.

RESULTS

The highest annual incidence of UC was 24.3 per 100,000 person-years in Europe, 6.3 per 100,000 person-years in Asia and the Middle East, and 19.2 per 100,000 person-years in North America. The highest annual incidence of CD was 12.7 per 100,000 person-years in Europe, 5.0 person-years in Asia and the Middle East, and 20.2 per 100,000 person-years in North America. The highest reported prevalence values for IBD were in Europe (UC, 505 per 100,000 persons; CD, 322 per 100,000 persons) and North America (UC, 249 per 100,000 persons; CD, 319 per 100,000 persons). In time-trend analyses, 75% of CD studies and 60% of UC studies had an increasing incidence of statistical significance (P < .05).

CONCLUSIONS

Although there are few epidemiologic data from developing countries, the incidence and prevalence of IBD are increasing with time and in different regions around the world, indicating its emergence as a global disease.

Perinatal and early life risk factors for inflammatory bowel disease

AIM: To investigate associations between perinatal risk factors and subsequent inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in children and young adults.

METHODS: Record linked abstracts of birth registrations, maternity, day case and inpatient admissions in a defined population of southern England. Investigation of 20 perinatal factors relating to the maternity or the birth: maternal age, Crohn’s disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis (UC) in the mother, maternal social class, marital status, smoking in pregnancy, ABO blood group and rhesus status, pre-eclampsia, parity, the infant’s presentation at birth, caesarean delivery, forceps delivery, sex, number of babies delivered, gestational age, birthweight, head circumference, breastfeeding and Apgar scores at one and five minutes.

RESULTS: Maternity records were present for 180 children who subsequently developed IBD. Univariate analysis showed increased risks of CD among children of mothers with CD (P = 0.011, based on two cases of CD in both mother and child) and children of mothers who smoked during pregnancy. Multivariate analysis confirmed increased risks of CD among children of mothers who smoked (odds ratio = 2.04, 95% CI = 1.06-3.92) and for older mothers aged 35+ years (4.81, 2.32-9.98). Multivariate analysis showed that there were no significant associations between CD and 17 other perinatal risk factors investigated. It also showed that, for UC, there were no significant associations with the perinatal factors studied.

CONCLUSION: This study shows an association between CD in mother and child; and elevated risks of CD in children of older mothers and of mothers who smoked.

Crohn's disease in Bangladeshis and Europeans in Britain: an epidemiological comparison in Tower Hamlets

The incidence of Crohn's disease in a defined Bangladeshi community was assessed in a retrospective, epidemiological study in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets from 1972 to 1989. The borough population of 164,000 includes over 28,000 Bangladeshis. Potential cases were identified from hospital pathology and medical records. There were 99 cases of Crohn's disease during the study period, of which five were Bangladeshi. The mean standardized incidence in Bangladeshis was 1.2/10(5)/year in the 1970s and 2.3/10(5)/year in the 1980s compared with 3.8/10(5)/year and 4.1/10(5)/year in Europeans, and 4.6/10(5)/year and 5.4/10(5)/year in West Indians, respectively. None of the changes with time was statistically significant. There were no cases amongst Hindus. The relative risk to Europeans, compared to Bangladeshis, was 2.5 during the 1970s and 2.0 in the 1980s. The difference between European incidence and that of other ethnic groups was not statistically significant; however, the number of Bangladeshi cases was small (five), and diminishes the power of the study. The apparent similarity of the incidences of Crohn's disease in Bangladeshis and Europeans contrasts with findings in other South Asians. Further investigations of the differences in incidence of Crohn's disease in South Asians is needed.

Epidemiologic aspects of Crohn's disease: a population based study in Olmsted County, Minnesota, 1943-1982

The overall age and sex adjusted incidence of Crohn's disease among Olmsted County, Minnesota, residents was 4.0 per 100,000 person-year in the period 1943-1982. Ileitis, ileocolitis, and colitis each accounted for about one third of the 103 incidence cases. Incidence rates were greater in woman than men, were higher in the urban portions of the county, and rose over time. Overall, the natural history of Crohn's disease in the community may be milder than that reported for patients at referral centres, as over half of all patients had no complications and only a third required surgery for Crohn's disease. Only one developed adenocarcinoma of the colon (relative risk = 2.0, NS). Survival was relatively unimpaired for the cohort, but Crohn's disease may have played a role in half of the deaths. The prevalence of Crohn's disease was 90.5/100,000 population on 1 January 1980.

Incidence of Crohn's disease in a defined population in northern Sweden, 1974-1981

An epidemiologic study of Crohn's disease, comprising the population of the two most northerly counties of Sweden and covering the 8-year period 1974-1981, was carried out. The basic population was about 510,000, and the area is regarded as rural, with a mean density of 3 inhabitants per km2. In all, 199 patients with a hospital discharge diagnosis of Crohn's disease were identified. A mean annual incidence of 4.9 per 10(5) inhabitants and a peak incidence of 6.7 were found. There was no sex difference and no obvious change in incidence during the time period studied. The highest incidence was observed in young adults, and ileal disease predominated. A significantly higher incidence was observed in the town of Umeå than in the rest of northern Sweden. The increase was confined to the ages between 20 and 40 years. The present study concludes that the incidence of Crohn's disease is high in northern Sweden, even though it is a sparsely populated rural area. The incidence figures are similar to those obtained for other parts of Sweden.

Increasing incidence of Crohn's disease

Reports in the literature have shown an increased incidence of Crohn's disease. The incidence in Spokane, Washington, was calculated on the basis of number of first hospitalizations for that diagnosis at all private hospitals within the city. The incidence in 1971 was 5.9 per 100,000 population and increased to 8.8 per 100,000 population in 1981, which is the highest incidence reported in the literature. The number of admissions and operations for Crohn's disease increased threefold in that same time interval. Possible pitfalls of such incidence studies have been discussed. We believe our results indicate a true and continuing increase in the incidence of Crohn's disease.

The incidence and prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease in North Tees Health District

The experience with inflammatory bowel disease in a stable, defined population in northeast England is described. In this population, the incidence of inflammatory bowel disease was higher than expected. In particular, a high incidence of colorectal and anal Crohn's disease was found. The literature is reviewed in order to identify some of the factors responsible for this unusual prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease in the study population. No explanation for our unexpected findings can be advanced.

Incidence of Crohn's disease in Cardiff between 1934-1977

The incidence of Crohn's disease in Cardiff between 1934 and 1977 has been examined using hospital diagnostic indices and supplemented in recent years by personal records from clinicians. A total of 232 cases of Crohn's disease were confirmed after all the notes had been reviewed. There has been a large increase from 0.18/cases/10(5) of the population per year in the 1930s to 4.8 cases/10(5)/year in the 1970s. The major change in incidence is thought to be real rather than apparent and involves all forms of the disease in each age group. The recognition of Crohn's disease of the colon in recent years appears to have played a minor part in the rise in incidence.