Nearly one in 100 people in the United States have a form of inflammatory bowel disease, according to a new study led by the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation. This number—touted by researchers as the clearest depiction to date of IBD in the United States—is one of the highest national rates in the world, according to researchers.
The INPUT (INcidence, Prevalence, Treatment, and OUTcomes in Patients with IBD) study found that IBD affects more than 0.7% of Americans, translating to approximately 721 cases per 100,000 people. “The numbers from our study and those from studies around the world mean two main things: The prevalence of IBD in the U.S. has been gradually increasing over the last decade, and thus the burden of caring for IBD is likely to increase as life expectancy increases,” said Andrés Hurtado-Lorenzo, PhD, the senior vice president of translational research and IBD ventures at the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, and a co-principal investigator of the INPUT study.