Abstract
BackgroundM & amacr;ori have historically seen a lower rate of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) compared to New Zealand's non-M & amacr;ori population. Recent reports have shown an increasing rate of IBD among M & amacr;ori patients.AimWe performed a study to identify the phenotypes of IBD in the M & amacr;ori population.MethodsPatients with IBD of M & amacr;ori ethnicity were retrospectively identified from four large regions of New Zealand. Electronic records were reviewed to collect details of patients' demographics, phenotypes and clinical features.ResultsWe identified 165 M & amacr;ori patients with IBD, of whom 74 (45.4%) had Crohn disease (CD), 86 (53.5%) had ulcerative colitis (UC) and 5 (3.0%) had IBD-unclassified (IBD-U). There were more female (61.8%) patients compared to male (38.2%). This was attributed to the higher ratio of female patients with CD over male (73.9% vs 26.1%), whereas sex was evenly distributed in UC (female 52.2%, male 48.8%). Ileocolonic CD was most frequently seen (36.2%), and the majority had non-stricturing disease (62.3%) with the absence of perianal involvement (78.2%). Bimodal age peaks were observed, with a first peak at 25-29 years and a second peak at 45-49 years. There was a five-fold increase in the incidence of IBD in M & amacr;ori over 20 years.ConclusionsWe present the largest study describing IBD in M & amacr;ori. IBD phenotypes in M & amacr;ori were similar to previous regional IBD reports, but there was a significantly higher proportion of female patients with CD in M & amacr;ori and an earlier second age peak at 45-49 years. Increasing incidence of IBD in M & amacr;ori has again been demonstrated.