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Prevalence of paediatric inflammatory bowel disease in Sweden: a nationwide population-based register study
J F Ludvigsson1,2, K Büsch3, O Olén3,4
1Department of Paediatrics, Örebro University Hospital, Örebro, Sweden. jonasludvigsson@yahoo.com.
Insights
Paediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) prevalence in Sweden is similar to previous studies. Children with IBD show higher rates of comorbid dermatologic, hepatobiliary, pancreatic, and rheumatic conditions compared to controls.
Area of Science:
- Gastroenterology
- Epidemiology
- Pediatrics
Background:
- Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) affects children, with varying prevalence estimates based on case definitions.
- Understanding the epidemiology of pediatric IBD is crucial for public health and resource allocation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate how different case definition algorithms impact the estimated prevalence of pediatric IBD, Crohn's disease (CD), and ulcerative colitis (UC).
- To compare the occurrence of specific comorbidities in children with IBD against matched general population controls.
Main Methods:
- Identified pediatric patients (<18 years) with UC or CD using ICD codes in Swedish registers (1993-2010).
- Defined prevalence using ≥2 IBD-related visits and treated prevalence with ≥2 visits and ≥1 drug prescription in 2010.
- Compared comorbidities (rheumatic, hepatobiliary, pancreatic, dermatologic) in IBD patients versus age/sex/county-matched controls.
Main Results:
- Overall pediatric IBD prevalence was 75/100,000 (CD: 29/100,000; UC: 30/100,000).
- Prevalence of treated disease in 2010 was 62/100,000.
- Children with IBD had significantly higher prevalence of dermatologic (4.7%), hepatobiliary (5.5%), pancreatic (1.7%), and rheumatic diseases (7.2%) compared to controls.
Conclusions:
- Pediatric IBD prevalence in Sweden is consistent with prior regional data.
- Children diagnosed with IBD exhibit a greater burden of associated comorbid conditions than the general pediatric population.
Background:
We evaluated the impact of different case definition algorithms on the prevalence of paediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) and to compare the occurrence of certain diseases compared to matched controls.
Methods:
Paediatric patients (<18 years) were identified via ICD codes for UC and CD in Swedish registers between 1993 and 2010 (n = 1432). Prevalence was defined as ≥2 IBD-related visits. Prevalence of treated children in 2010 was defined as ≥2 IBD-related visits with one visit and ≥1 dispensed IBD-related drug prescription in 2010. To test the robustness of the estimates, prevalence was also calculated according to alternative case definitions. The presence of rheumatic, hepatobiliary, pancreatic, and dermatologic diseases were compared with age-/sex-/county-of-residence-matched general population controls.
Results:
The IBD prevalence was 75/100,000 (CD: 29/100,000; UC: 30/100,000; patients with IBD-U: 16/100,000). Prevalence of treated disease in 2010 was 62/100,000 (CD: 23/100,000; UC: 25/100,000; patients with IBD-U: 13/100,000). When age restrictions were employed, the prevalence estimate decreased (<17y: 61/100,000, <16y: 49/100,000 and <15y: 38/100,000). Compared to general population controls (n = 8583), children with IBD had a higher prevalence of dermatologic (4.7% vs. 0.6%), hepatobiliary (including primary sclerosing cholangitis) (5.5% vs. 0.1%), pancreatic (1.7% vs. 0%) and rheumatic diseases (7.2% vs. 1.2%; all P < 0.01).
Conclusions:
The overall prevalence of paediatric IBD in Sweden was similar to that in earlier regional cohorts. IBD patients had a higher prevalence of comorbid conditions than matched general population controls.
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