BACKGROUND: Two separate nationwide, retrospective epidemiological studies of @entity29 ( @entity29 ) in Iceland over a combined 40-year period, 1950-1989, have shown a continually rising incidence. The main objective of this study was to investigate the incidence of @entity29 prospectively for the 5-year period 1990-1994 to determine whether there still was an ongoing increase. METHODS: The retrieval of new cases of @entity31 ( @entity31 ) and @entity30 ( @entity30 ) was based on a monthly review of all small and large intestinal tissue specimens with any @entity32 submitted to all three departments of pathology in Iceland. All small intestinal X-ray records suggestive of @entity30 were also reviewed. All possible new cases of @entity29 were then scrutinized by examination of the clinical records, using accepted criteria for confirmation or exclusion of @entity29 . RESULTS: A total of 215 cases of @entity31 and 72 cases of @entity30 were diagnosed, yielding a mean annual incidence for @entity31 16.5/100000 (95% confidence interval (CI) 14.4-18.9), and for @entity30 5.5/100000 (95% CI 4.3-7.0). The highest combined age related incidence for @entity31 was 28.7/100000 in the group aged 30-39 years, and for @entity30 8.5/100000 in the groups aged 10-19 and 20-29 years. The most common extent in @entity31 was proctosigmoid and the most frequent localization in @entity30 was colonic only. CONCLUSIONS: This prospective study demonstrates a continuing and statistically significant increase in the incidence of both @entity31 and @entity30 in Iceland. The general changes identified for a few previously suggested environmental factors do not allow any firm conclusions as to their role in the observed increase in incidence. It is possible that there are some other causative factor(s).

XXXX in Iceland, 1990-1994: a prospective, nationwide, epidemiological study.

@entity32 :: ('MESH:D007249', 'Disease') :: ['type of inflammation'] @entity31 :: ('MESH:D003093', 'Disease') :: ['ulcerative colitis', 'UC'] @entity30 :: ('MESH:D003424', 'Disease') :: ['CD', "Crohn's disease"] @entity29 :: ('MESH:D015212', 'Disease') :: ['inflammatory bowel disease', 'IBD']
@entity29 :: (MESH:D015212,Disease) :: ['Inflammatory bowel disease']
