title: African-American inflammatory bowel disease in a Southern U.S. health center.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) remain significant health problems in the US and worldwide. IBD is most often associated with eastern European ancestry, and is less frequently reported in other populations of African origin e.g. African Americans ('AAs'). Whether AAs represent an important population with IBD in the US remains unclear since few studies have investigated IBD in communities with a majority representation of AA patients. The Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport (LSUHSC-S) is a tertiary care medical center, with a patient base composed of 58% AA and 39% Caucasian (W), ideal for evaluating racial (AA vs. W) as well and gender (M vs. F) influences on IBD.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this retrospective study, we evaluated 951 visits to LSUHSC-S for IBD (between 2000 to 2008) using non-identified patient information based on ICD-9 medical record coding (Crohn's disease 'CD'-555.0- 555.9 and ulcerative colitis 'UC'-556.0-556.9).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, there were more cases of CD seen than UC. UC and CD affected similar ratios of AA and Caucasian males (M) and females (F) with a rank order of WF > WM > AAF > AAM. Interestingly, in CD, we found that annual visits per person was the highest in AA M (10.7 ± 1.7); significantly higher (* -p < 0.05) than in WM (6.3 ± 1.0). Further, in CD, the female to male (F: M) ratio in AA was significantly higher (*- p < 0.05) (1.9 ± 0.2) than in Caucasians (F:M = 1.3 ± 0.1) suggesting a female dominance in AACD; no differences were seen in UC F: M ratios.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although Caucasians still represent the greatest fraction of IBD (~64%), AAs with IBD made up >1/3 (36.4%) of annual IBD cases from 2000-2008 at LSUHSC-S. Further studies on genetic and environments risks for IBD risk in AAs are needed to understand differences in presentation and progression in AAs and other 'non-traditional' populations.
authors.affiliation: Dept of Molecular & Cellular Physiology, 1501 Kings Highway, Shreveport, LA, 71130-3932, USA.
authors.forename: Hemanth
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Veluswamy
authors.forename: Kunal
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Suryawala
authors.forename: Ankur
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sheth
authors.forename: Shannon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wells
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Salvatierra
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Cromer
authors.forename: Ganta V
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Chaitanya
authors.forename: Annette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Painter
authors.forename: Mihir
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Manas
authors.forename: Ellenmarie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Zwank
authors.forename: Moheb
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boktor
authors.forename: Kondal
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Baig
authors.forename: Balaji
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Datti
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Mathis
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Minagar
authors.forename: Paul A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Jordan
authors.forename: Jonathan S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Alexander
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D003151:Community Health Centers; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D015212:Inflammatory Bowel Diseases / Q000208:ethnology*; D008297:Male; D009819:Office Visits / Q000639:trends*; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology