EPIDEMIOLOGY OF INFLAMMATORY BOWEL-DISEASE IN BRUSSELS AREA (1992-1993)

A prospective epidemiological study on inflammatory bowel diseases (IB D) patients was performed in Brussels' area from April 1(st), 1992 to 30(th) March, 1993. The mean annual incidence for Crohn's diseases (CD ) was 4.1/10(5) inhabitants/year among native Belgian people and 6.4/1 0(5) inhabitants/year for subjects issued from Moroccan families. For ulcerative colitis, the incidence was 3.7/10(5) inhabitants/year for n ative Belgian people and only 1.2/10(5) inhabitants/year for Moroccan subjects. The male/female sex ratio was 0.4 for Co and 1.9 for UC. At the time of diagnosis, the mean age was 34 years for CD and 38 years f or UC. For both diseases, the age peak was between 20 and 29 years; Ci garette smoking was significantly higher in CD (48%) than in UC patien ts (12%). Family history was about 10% for both diseases.