[Epidemiology of chronic inflammatory intestinal diseases]

Epidemiological studies proved a clear increase of the frequency of ulcerous colitis and Crohn's disease in highly industrialised countries. Ethnic particularities and familiar accumulation are to be emphasized. The stationary morbidity is determinable in the GDR for both diseases, however, it is not suitable for the establishment of incidence and prevalence. Issuing from the patients of a defined population treated with salazopyrin the prevalence of ulcerous colitis was established with 26.1 for the female sex and 23.6 for the male sex on 10(5) inhabitants. With 3.4 diseases in females and 2.2 in males Crohn's disease is unequivocally less frequent, though not all patients may established.