Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2006 Oct 1;164(7):615-23; discussion 624-8.
doi: 10.1093/aje/kwj260. Epub 2006 Aug 18.

A population-based ecologic study of inflammatory bowel disease: searching for etiologic clues

Chris Green  1 , Lawrence Elliott, Carole Beaudoin, Charles N Bernstein
Affiliations

A population-based ecologic study of inflammatory bowel disease: searching for etiologic clues

Chris Green et al. Am J Epidemiol. .

Abstract

The authors' objective in this study was to determine geographic variations in the incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), specifically Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, in the Canadian province of Manitoba and its association with the sociodemographic, geographic, and disease-related characteristics of the study population. Using the University of Manitoba IBD Epidemiology Database, the authors applied spatial and ecologic techniques to visualize, explore, and model the incidence of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis for the period 1990-2001. The study demonstrated marked, statistically significant geographic variability in rates of both Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis associated with the characteristics of the study population. Incidences of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis were observed to be highest among non-Aboriginal persons, persons of high socioeconomic status, persons with the lowest rates of enteric infection, and persons with the highest rates of multiple sclerosis. The observation of an inverse association between IBD incidence and rates of reportable enteric infection at the population level is consistent with the "hygiene hypothesis," which suggests that early exposure to enteric agents affords protection against eventual development of IBD. The positive association between IBD incidence rates and multiple sclerosis suggests that these two chronic, immunologically mediated diseases may have a common environmental etiology. This study underscores the importance of environment in IBD causation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources