title: Incidence Trends and Geographical Variability of Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Slovenia: A Nationwide Study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aims of the study were to determine the incidence rate of pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (PIBD) and its trends for the period of 2002-2010 and to assess the geographical distribution of PIBD in Slovenia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Medical records of patients (0-18 years) with newly diagnosed IBD during the study period were retrospectively reviewed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean incidence rate for IBD in 2002-2010 was 7.6 per 100,000 children and adolescents per year, 4.5 for Crohn's disease (CD), 2.9 for ulcerative colitis (UC), and 0.2 for IBD-unclassified, respectively. The incidence rate increased from 5.8 per 100,000 per year in 2002-2004 to 8.6 in 2005-2007 and remained stable afterwards. Statistically significant difference in the incidence rate between the Northeastern and Southwestern parts of the country was observed (p = 0.025).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This nationwide study demonstrates that Slovenia is among the European countries with the highest PIBD incidence. During the study period a substantial rise of PIBD incidence was observed during the first half of the study and it seems to have stabilized in the second half. The significant difference in PIBD incidence between Northeastern and Southwestern parts of the country merits further exploration of the possible environmental factors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, University Children's Hospital, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Darja
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Urlep
authors.affiliation: Institute for Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Rok
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Blagus
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, University Children's Hospital, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Rok
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Orel
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D017524:Slovenia / Q000453:epidemiology