Epidemiology of inflammatory bowel disease in Italy

The incidence of inflammatory bowel diseases is similar throughout Italy Tw o prospective multicentre studies in the same period have shown an incidenc e very similar to Northern Europe. The incidence of ulcerative colitis rang ed from 3.4 to 10.5. The incidence of Crohn's disease ranged from 1.9 to 6. 6 The time trends seem to indicate an increase in both diseases. The need t o set up General Registries of disease is underlined. The clinical behaviou r and the diagnostic approach are homogenous throughout the country. Compar ed to Northern Europe, surgery was less common in ulcerative colitis. Among the risk factors, familial occurrence has been shown to have the same prev alence as in Northern Europe suggesting a common genetic background. Studie s on other risk factors are warranted considering the lack of data. Data on mortality show that there is a decrease in deaths in ulcerative colitis an d a slight increase in mortality for Crohn's disease in the first few years after diagnosis. A retrospective study on costs has shown a greater econom ic burden from ulcerative colitis, however; new multicentre prospective stu dies are necessary.