Similar geographic variations in mortality from peptic ulcer and inflammatory bowel disease

BACKGROUND: The epidemiology of peptic ulcer and inflammatory bowel disease shows many similar patterns. The aim of the present study was to compare the geographic distribution of mortality from peptic ulcer with that from inflammatory bowel disease. METHODS: Mortality data from 27 countries between 1991 and 2004 were analyzed. The relationships between the geographic distributions of mortality from gastric ulcer, duodenal ulcer, Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis were compared using least-squares linear regression analyses. RESULTS: The study revealed a 20- to 30-fold variation in mortality from peptic ulcer and a 60-fold variation in mortality from inflammatory bowel disease among different countries. Mortality from peptic ulcer and inflammatory bowel disease tended to be more common in northern European countries and rare in most countries in Asia and South America. The similar variations of all 4 diseases resulted in the correlations among their geographic distributions being statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: The similarities in the geographic distributions of gastric ulcer, duodenal ulcer, Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis indicate that all 4 diseases may share a common set of risk factors.