Paediatric inflammatory bowel disease in a multiracial Asian country
Singapore medical journal
; : 201-205, 2013.
Article
in English
| WPRIM (Western Pacific)
| ID: wpr-359132
Responsible library:
WPRO
ABSTRACT
<p><b>INTRODUCTION</b>This study examined the characteristics and trends in the incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) among children in Singapore.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>We retrospectively reviewed all patients under 18 years diagnosed with IBD over a 14-year period. Information on demographics, disease presentation, laboratory findings, radiological investigations, and endoscopic and histological findings were obtained from the patients' medical records.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>32 patients were diagnosed with IBD, 30 of whom had Crohn's disease and 2 had ulcerative colitis. The incidence of IBD rose from an initial rate of 2.2 per 100,000 patients in the year 2000 to a peak of 11.4 patients per 100,000 patients by 2008. Median age of onset of symptoms was 10.5 years. There were more boys (63%) than girls in the group and a higher representation of Indians (34.4%). The most common presenting symptoms were abdominal pain (87.5%), diarrhoea (75.0%) and weight loss (71.9%). Extraintestinal manifestations such as fever and arthralgia were found in over 50% of patients. The most common physical findings were perianal abnormalities (56.3%), mouth ulcers (37.5%) and growth failure (15.6%). Abnormal laboratory findings such as low albumin, raised erythrocyte sedimentation rate, anaemia, thrombocytosis and high C-reactive protein were found in nearly half of the patients. Endoscopic and histological findings showed that a majority of patients (90.6%) also had evidence of inflammation in the upper gastrointestinal tract.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Paediatric IBD is on the rise. The higher occurrence in Indians, earlier onset and more florid presentation may suggest different genetic and environmental influences specific to Asian children.</p>
Full text:
Available
Health context:
Neglected Diseases
Health problem:
Diarrhea
Database:
WPRIM (Western Pacific)
Main subject:
Singapore
/
Therapeutics
/
Inflammatory Bowel Diseases
/
Ethnicity
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Colitis, Ulcerative
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Crohn Disease
/
Epidemiology
/
Retrospective Studies
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Treatment Outcome
/
Age of Onset
Type of study:
Diagnostic study
/
Observational study
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Child
/
Child, preschool
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Country/Region as subject:
Asia
Language:
English
Journal:
Singapore medical journal
Year:
2013
Document type:
Article