Inflammatory bowel disease in African-American children living in Georgia

We describe the clinical characteristics of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in African-American compared with non-African-American children. We identified 172 children with IBD; forty-nine (29%) were African-American. Median symptom duration before IBD diagnosis in African-American children (6 months) was shorter than that of non-African-American children (10 months). The most frequent presenting symptom was hematochezia (ulcerative colitis) and abdominal pain (Crohn's disease) in both racial groups. The estimated incidence of Crohn's disease in African-Americans ranged from 7 per 100,000 to 12 per 100,000, whereas the observed incidence in those with ulcerative colitis was between 5 and 7 per 100,000 during the 10 years of the study. Our pilot study suggests that IBD may be more common in African-American children than previously reported. Prospective population-based studies would be useful to determine whether inheritable factors linked with ethnicity are associated with IBD.