ABSTRACT
Background: This study was done to define some epidemiological aspects of inflammatory bowel disease [IBD], and to describe its characteristics in west of Iran
Methods: In this descriptive study all patient with the diagnosis of IBD who were visited in university-affiliated medical centers, between 2014 and 2015 were recruited. Their demographic characteristics, disease-related manifestations, complications, disease course and their chief complaints were analyzed
Results: Of 156 referred individuals, 153 patients had ulcerative colitis [UC] and 3 patients had Crohn's diseases [CD]. The mean age of the patients at diagnosis was 35.69+/-12.35 [range: 17-80] years with the most common age group of 25-35 years and slight female predominance [51.9%]. More urban patients were registered [90.4%] and 57% had high school or upper education. Positive family history of the disease was in 25.6% and 66.6% had four or more family members. Furthermore, 51.9% had left sided colitis and 40.4% had pancolitis with bloody diarrhea [79.5%] and abdominal pain [68.6%] as the most common manifestations. 36.5% had other autoimmune diseases. Multiple flare was seen in 47.4%, most commonly due to drug discontinuation [26.28%]. Hospital admission was reported in 34.6%. History of contraceptive pill use was in 38.8% of the female patients
Conclusion: The demographic and clinical manifestations of IBD are usually the same as other developing countries; however, the rarity of CD is eminent. Although the accurate epidemiological characteristic of IBD in Iran is still obscure, it is not a rare disease as previously thought and it seems that gradual reception of a western lifestyle may be linked to the ongoing rise in IBD