Evolution of the incidence of inflammatory bowel disease in Southern Spain

• Main Authors: Dina Chaaro-Benallal, María Fernanda Guerra-Veloz, Federico Argüelles-Arias, José Manuel Benítez, Raúl Perea-Amarillo, Eva Iglesias, Luisa Castro-Laria, Valle Sánchez-García, Belén Maldonado-Pérez, Ángel Vilches, Ángel Caunedo-Álvarez, Manuel Romero-Gómez
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Aran Ediciones
• Series: Revista Espanola de Enfermedades Digestivas
• Subjects: IBD; Incidence; Spain; Southern Europe
• Online Access: http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1130-01082017001100004&lng=en&tlng=en

Background: The incidence of inflammatory bowel disease is increasing in Europe and in Spain. However, there is no recent data from Southern Spain. Objectives: To determine the evolution of the hospital incidence of inflammatory bowel disease in Southern Spain. Material and methods: A retrospective study was performed in two hospitals in Southern Spain. Data was collected from inflammatory bowel disease patients, divided into two periods (1995-2000 and 2001-2014) and compared. The reference population from both areas was 1,011,555 inhabitants. Results: A total of 430 patients were registered during the first period (1995-2000); 50% (215) had Crohn's disease that resulted in a cumulative incidence rate of 7.08 cases/100,000 inhabitants per year. The overall inflammatory bowel disease incidence was 3.54 cases/100,000 inhabitants per year. During the second period (2001-2014), 2,089 patients were collected; 51.7% had ulcerative colitis (1,081). The rate of cumulative incidence of inflammatory bowel disease was 14.7 cases/100,000 inhabitants per year (7.6 cases of ulcerative colitis/100,000 inhabitants/year and 7.1 cases of Crohn's disease/100,000 inhabitants/year). Conclusions: The incidence of inflammatory bowel disease in Southern Spain has doubled in the last decade and is similar to that of the rest of the country and Europe.