Crohn's disease in the Kinneret sub-district, Israel, 1960-1990. Incidence and prevalence in different ethnic subgroups.

Crohn's disease has been predominant in Jewish patients in some countries (USA, UK, Sweden). The purposes of this study were: to continue to map the morbidity in Israel and the trends of the rate over time. The mean annual incidence rate in the Kinneret sub-district among Jews was 1.96/100,000 during 1960-1990 and 2.98/100,000 in the last decade. The prevalence rate in 1990 among Jews was 45.9/100,000 and was twofold among European-American-born compared to other ethnic groups. No cases were found among Arabs, although they make up about 25% of the area's population. The conclusions are: (1) morbidity rate of Crohn's disease increased over time, and (2) in the last decade incidence rates among Jews of Asian-African origin are similar to, or even higher than those of European-American origin.