Mortality and morbidity of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis in Australia

In Australia, between 1968 and 1977, the number of fatalities attributed to Crohn's disease increased significantly from 0.07/10(5) mean population (1968 to 1972) to 0.12/10(5) mean population (1873 to 1977). Over the same period, the mortality rate for ulcerative colitis was 0.23/10(5), with no increase. The ratio of the mortality rate for ulcerative colitis to that for Crohn's disease was similar in Australia to that in England and Wales, but the mortality rates for both diseases in Australia were approximately one-third of the corresponding rates in northern Europe and North America. Between 1959 and 1978 the relative frequency of public hospital admissions for Crohn's disease increased markedly in comparison with that for ulcerative colitis. A registry for inflammatory bowel disease should be established for monitoring epidemiological changes in Australia.