IBD Incidence Peaks in Third Decade of Life

IBD is diagnosed in more than 0.7% of Americans, with an incidence that peaks in early adulthood and then plateaus, according to results published in Gastroenterology. James D. Lewis, MD, and colleagues estimated the incidence, prevalence, and racial-ethnic distribution of IBD in the United States using four administrative claims datasets. The age- and sex-standardized incidence of IBD was 10.9 per 100,000 person-years. In the third decade of life, incidence of IBD peaked, followed by a decrease to a relatively stable level across the fourth to eighth decades and then a further decline. Per 100,000 people, the age-, sex-, and insurance-standardized prevalence of IBD was 721. An estimated 2.39 million cases of IBD were diagnosed, extrapolated based on 2020 census data. Per 100,000 Americans, the IBD prevalence was 812 in White people, 504 in Black people, 403 in Asian people, and 458 in Hispanic people. Estimates of IBD that account for racial and ethnic distribution “provide valuable information about the burden of disease in a population,” a coprincipal investigator said in a statement, and the knowledge can help “allocate resources to effectively manage IBD, make better-informed public health decisions, and improve patient outcomes.”