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Increasing incidence of inflammatory bowel disease among young men in Korea between 2003 and 2008
Dong Hyuk Shin1, Dong Hyun Sinn, Young-Ho Kim
1Department of Emergency Medicine, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Insights
Incidence of Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) is rapidly increasing among young men in Korea. This rise suggests environmental factors may contribute to these inflammatory bowel diseases.
Area of Science:
- Gastroenterology
- Epidemiology
- Public Health
Background:
- Inflammatory bowel diseases, including Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), have complex etiologies.
- Temporal trends in disease incidence can offer insights into environmental influences.
- Korea's military conscription system provides a unique population for studying disease incidence in young men.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the temporal trends in the incidence rates of Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) among young men in Korea.
- To leverage the military conscription policy as a data source for incidence estimation.
- To explore potential environmental contributions to the rising incidence of these conditions.
Main Methods:
- Data on individuals relieved from military duties due to CD or UC diagnoses between 2003 and 2008 were obtained from the Republic of Korea Army's Armed Forces Medical Command.
- Incidence rates were calculated per 100,000 persons.
- Rates were analyzed over 2-year intervals to identify trends.
Main Results:
- A total of 96 incident cases of CD and 104 incident cases of UC were recorded during the 6-year study period.
- The adjusted mean annual incidence rates for CD and UC were 3.2 and 3.5 per 100,000 persons, respectively.
- Significant increases in mean annual incidence were observed over time: CD from 1.8 to 5.1 and UC from 1.7 to 5.4 per 100,000 persons between 2003-2004 and 2007-2008.
Conclusions:
- The incidence of both Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) among young Korean men has shown a rapid increase.
- These findings strongly suggest a significant environmental contribution to the development of CD and UC in this population.
- Further research into environmental factors is warranted to understand and potentially mitigate the rising incidence of these diseases.
Background And Aims:
Temporal trends in incidence rates of Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) can provide valuable clues about etiology. Korea has a draft system, and every male must fulfill his military service. However, according to military rules, patients with CD and UC are not conscripted into the army, and when the disease is diagnosed during military service, patients are relieved from military duties. Such policies provide a unique opportunity to determine the incidence of CD and UC among young men in Korea. We studied the incidence of CD and UC over time in Korea, a rapidly developing country.
Methods:
The Armed Forces Medical Command of the Republic of Korea Army provided lists of members who were relieved from military duties due to diagnoses of CD and UC between 2003 and 2008.
Results:
During this 6-year period, there were 96 incident cases of CD and 104 incident cases of UC. For the 6-year period, the adjusted mean annual incidence rates of CD and UC per 100,000 persons were 3.2 and 3.5, respectively. When analyzed by 2-year intervals, the mean annual incidence of CD and UC increased, from 1.8 and 1.7 per 100,000 persons in 2003-2004, to 2.7 and 3.3 per 100,000 persons in 2005-2006, and to 5.1 and 5.4 per 100,000 persons in 2007-2008, respectively.
Conclusions:
Incidence of CD and UC among young men is rapidly increasing in Korea, which strongly suggests an environmental contribution to the disease.
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