RESUMO
OBJECTIVES: to analyze retrospectively our hospital records on patients diagnosed during the period from 1983 to 1993 as having Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis, and to estimate the incidence and epidemiological characteristics of these diseases in the Pamplona health administration area. METHODS: 246 patients were diagnosed has having inflammatory bowel disease (147 with ulcerative colitis, 97 with Crohn's disease, and 2 with indeterminate colitis. RESULTS: mean incidence was 2.47 +/- 0.96 per 100 000 inhabitants for Crohn's disease, and 3.75 +/- 1.5 per 100 000 inhabitants for ulcerative colitis (p < 0.05). There was a nonsignificant increase in incidence during the study period. Age, sex, alcohol intake, smoking habit and familial aggregation were analyzed. CONCLUSIONS: mean estimated incidence of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis in our setting during 1983-1993 was similar to that reported more recently for other parts of Spain. In our setting, ulcerative colitis was significantly more frequent that Crohn's disease, and familial aggregation was lower among patients who had the former disease. Crohn's disease was diagnosed at earlier ages, and cigarette smoking was more frequent among patients with this disease.
