BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The aim of the present study was to validate the IBD (inflammatory bowel diseases) incidence reported in the 2010 ECCO-EpiCom (European Crohn's and Colitis Organization-Epidemiological Committee) inception cohort by including a second independent inception cohort from participating centers in 2011 and an Australian center to investigate whether there is a difference in the incidence of IBD between Eastern and Western European countries and Australia. METHODS: Fourteen centers from 5 Eastern and 9 Western European countries and one center from Australia participated in the ECCO-EpiCom 2011 inception cohort. Patients' data regarding disease type, socio-demographic factors, extraintestinal manifestations and therapy were entered into the Web-based EpiCom database, www.ecco-epicom.eu. RESULTS: A total of 711 adult patients were diagnosed during the inclusion year 2011, 178 (25%) from Eastern, 461 (65%) from Western Europe and 72 (10%) from Australia; 259 (37%) patients were diagnosed with Crohn's disease, 380 (53%) with ulcerative colitis and 72 (10%) with IBD unclassified. The mean annual incidence rate for IBD was 11.3/100,000 in Eastern Europe, 14.0/100,000 in Western Europe and 30.3/100,000 in Australia. Significantly more patients were diagnosed with complicated disease at diagnosis in Eastern Europe compared to Western Europe (43% vs. 27%, p=0.02). CONCLUSION: Incidence rates, disease phenotype and initial treatment characteristics in the 2011 ECCO-EpiCom cohort were not significantly different from that reported in the 2010 cohort.

1st Department of Medicine Semmelweis University Budapest Hungary

1st Division of Internal Medicine and Division of Gastroenterology Faculty of Medicine University of Ioannina Ioannina Greece

Clinic of Gastroenterology University of Medicine 'Victor Babes' Timisoara Romania

Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Soroka Medical Centre and Ben Gurion University of the Negev Beer Sheva Israel

Department of Gastroenterology Hospital de São João Porto Portugal; Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics Oporto Medical School Porto Portugal; MedInUP Centre for Drug Discovery and Innovative Medicines University of Porto Porto Portugal

Department of Gastroenterology St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne Victoria Australia

Department of Gastroenterology State University of Medicine and Pharmacy Chisinau Republic of Moldova

Department of Medical Gastroenterology Gentofte Hospital Copenhagen Denmark

Department of Medicine Amager Hospital Amager Denmark

Department of Paediatric Gastroenterology Centre of Mother and Child Chisinau Republic of Moldova

Digestive Disease Centre Medical Section Herlev University Hospital Copenhagen Denmark

Digestive Disease Centre Medical Section Herlev University Hospital Copenhagen Denmark; 1st Department of Medicine Semmelweis University Budapest Hungary

Gastroenterology Department Complexo Hospitalario Universitario de Vigo Vigo Spain

Gastroenterology Department POVISA Hospital Vigo Spain

Hospital de Vale de Sousa Porto Portugal

IBD Centre ISCARE Charles University Prague Czech Republic

Institute for Digestive Research Lithuanian University of Health Sciences Kaunas Lithuania

Medical Department The National Hospital of the Faroe Islands Torshavn Faroe Islands

Nicosia Private Practice Cyprus

On behalf of the EpiCom Northern Italy centre based in Crema Cremona Firenze Forlì and Padova and Reggio Emilia Italy; U O Gastroenterologia ed Endoscopia Digestiva University of Ioannina Forlì Italy

U O Gastroenterologia ed Endoscopia Ospedale Maggiore di Crema Crema Italy; On behalf of the EpiCom Northern Italy centre based in Crema Cremona Firenze Forlì and Padova and Reggio Emilia Italy

References provided by Crossref.org

Barriers in inflammatory bowel disease care in Central and Eastern Europe: a region-specific analysis