Epidemiological aspects of Crohn’s disease

Abstract

Crohn’s Disease (CD) is considered a result of multifactorial interplay between genetic, immune-related, environmental, and infectious triggers all contributing into evolution of clinical disease. The age of onset of Crohn’s disease has a bimodal distribution. The first peak occurs between the ages of 15 and 30 years (late adolescence and early adulthood), and the second occurs mainly in women between the ages of 60 and 70 years. In general, the frequency of CD is similar in males and females, with some studies showing a very slight female predominance. The rate of Crohn’s disease is 1.1–1.8 times higher in women than in men. This pattern is reversed with pediatric CD, which has a higher incidence in boys than in girls (pediatric male-to-female ratio, ~1.6:1).