*EMBARGOED All research presented at the World Congress of Gastroenterology at ACG2017 is strictly embargoed until Monday, October 16, 2017, at 8:00 am EDT.
Oral 9 Evolving Trends in the Epidemiology of IBD in the 21st Century: A Systematic Review of Population-Based Studies
Author Insight from Gilaad Kaplan, MD, MPH, University of Calgary, and Siew C NG, MBBS (Lond), PhD (Lond), The Chinese University of Hong Kong
What’s new here and important for clinicians?
Our study demonstrated that at the turn of the 21st Century the incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in most Western countries has begun to stabilize and, in some regions, decrease. However, after several decades of sharply rising incidence, the prevalence of IBD has ballooned to over 0·3% of the population in North America and many countries in Europe. The high prevalence of IBD in the Western world will challenge clinicians and health policy makers to provide quality and cost-efficient care to patients with IBD. Moreover, as newly industrialized countries in Asia, South America and the Middle East have become Westernized, IBD has emerged, and its incidence is rising dramatically.
Over the past 100 years the incidence of IBD climbed, then plateaued in the Western world, whereas countries outside the Western world appear to be in the first stage of this sequence. Thus, future research should prioritize the identification of environmental determinants observed during the Westernization of society in order to highlight avenues to prevent the development of IBD.
What do patients need to know?
The epidemiology of IBD has undergone a paradigm shift over the past generation. Since 1990, the incidence of IBD is stabilizing in the Western world, but prevalence is high and climbing. In contrast, newly industrialized countries in Asia, South America and the Middle East are demonstrating that the incidence is rising—similar to trends observed during the latter part of the 20th Century in the Western world. The evolving burden of IBD throughout the world will necessitate a coordinated solution involving research into interventions that modify the environment in order to prevent IBD and innovating the delivery of care to patients with IBD.
Author Contacts
Gilaad Kaplan, MD, MPH, University of Calgary
ggkaplan@ucalgary.ca
Siew C NG, MBBS (Lond), PhD (Lond), The Chinese University of Hong Kong
siewchienng@cuhk.edu.hk
Dr. Kaplan is the Last Author, Presenter, and can speak with the media on site. Dr. Ng is the First Author. She will not be on site, but is available for email or phone interviews.
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