The epidemiology and clinical characteristics of Crohn's disease in the Hong Kong Chinese population: experiences from a regional hospital.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To study the descriptive epidemiology and clinical profile of patients with Crohn's disease. DESIGN: Retrospective study. SETTING: Regional hospital, Hong Kong. PATIENTS Patients with Crohn's disease diagnosed between January 1991 and December 2006 inclusive. RESULTS: Over the period studied, 27 Chinese patients were diagnosed with Crohn's disease in our hospital. Our hospital-based incidence and prevalence rate had increased more than 2- and 5-fold, respectively over that period. The mean age at diagnosis was 26 years and median duration of disease was 81 months. Most patients had ileocolonic disease (67%) followed by Crohn's colitis (22%) and ileal disease (11%); more patients had non-stricturing and non-penetrating disease (63%) than stricturing (15%) or penetrating disease (22%). Peri-anal disease occurred in 37% of our patients. At diagnosis, many of the patients (41%) had mild-moderate disease, but 30% each had moderate-severe and severe-fulminant disease. At the time of this study, 85% of the patients were in disease remission with medical treatment. However, 48% had undergone surgery for diagnosis or complications. No patient had developed colorectal cancer or died. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence and prevalence of Crohn's disease are increasing in the Chinese population. It usually affects young persons with a substantial proportion of patients presented with severe-fulminant disease. More epidemiological and clinical studies are needed for this emerging disease in Asian regions.