title: Ethnic Distribution of Microscopic Colitis in the United States.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A large electronic database of histopathology reports was used to study the ethnic distribution of microscopic colitis in the United States.
  
  
  METHODS
  Miraca Life Sciences is a nation-wide pathology laboratory that receives biopsy specimens submitted by 1500 gastroenterologists distributed throughout the United States. In a case-control study, the prevalence of microscopic colitis in 4 ethnic groups (East Asians, Indians, Hispanics, and Jews) was compared with that of all other ethnic groups (composed of American Caucasians and African Americans), serving as reference group.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 11,706 patients with microscopic colitis were included in the analysis. In all ethnic groups alike, microscopic colitis was more common in women than men (78% versus 22%, odds ratio = 3.40, 95% confidence interval = 3.26-3.55). In all ethnic groups, the prevalence of microscopic colitis showed a continuous age-dependent rise. Hispanic patients with microscopic colitis were on average younger than the reference group (59.4 ± 16.2 years versus 64.2 ± 13.8 years, P < 0.001). Jewish patients with microscopic colitis were slightly older than the reference group (65.6 ± 13.4 years, P = 0.015). Compared with the reference group (prevalence = 1.20%), microscopic colitis was significantly less common among patients of Indian (prevalence = 0.28%, odds ratio = 0.32, 95% confidence interval = 0.13-0.65), East Asian (0.22%, 0.19, 0.14-0.26), or Hispanic decent (0.48%, 0.40, 0.36-0.45) and significantly more common among Jewish patients (1.30%, 1.10, 1.01-1.21).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Microscopic colitis shows striking variations of its occurrence among different ethnic groups. Such variations could point at differences in the exposure to environmental risk factors.
authors.affiliation: *Miraca Life Sciences Research Institute, Irving, Texas; †Department of Pathology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center College of Medicine, Dallas, Texas; ‡VA Medical Center, Dallas, Texas; §Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon; and ‖VA Medical Center, Portland, Oregon.
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Turner
authors.forename: Robert M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Genta
authors.forename: Amnon
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sonnenberg
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001213:Asian; D001706:Biopsy; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D046728:Colitis, Microscopic / Q000208:ethnology*; D003113:Colonoscopy; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007585:Jews; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People; D055815:Young Adult