A systematic and effective welfare system for people with digestive system impairments is required. In Korea, an objective and scientific rating guideline does not exist to judge the digestive system impairments. Whether the impairments exist or not and the degree of it need to be examined. Thus, with these considerations we need a scientific rating guideline for digestive system impairments to fit our cultural and social background. In 2007, a research team, for the development of rating impairment guidelines, was organized under the supervision of Korean Academy of Medical Sciences. The rating guidelines for digestive system impairments was classified into upper and lower gastrointestinal tracts impairments and liver impairment. We developed objective rating guidelines for the upper gastrointestinal tract, the impairment generated after surgery for the stomach, duodenum, esophagus, and for the lower gastrointestinal tract, the impairment generated after construction and surgery for colon, rectum, anus, and intestinal stomas. We tried to make the rating impairment guidelines to include science, objectivity, convenience, rationality, and actuality. We especially emphasized objectivity as the most important value. We worked to make it easy and convenient to use for both the subjects who received the impairment ratings and the doctors who will give the ratings.
Digestive System Diseases/classification/*diagnosis ; *Disability Evaluation ; Duodenal Diseases/classification/diagnosis ; Esophageal Diseases/classification/diagnosis ; Humans ; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases/classification/diagnosis ; Korea ; Liver Diseases/classification/diagnosis ; Postoperative Complications/classification/diagnosis ; Program Development ; Severity of Illness Index ; Stomach Diseases/classification/diagnosis

PURPOSE: Gender differences in paediatric patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are frequently reported as a secondary outcome and the results are divergent. To assess gender differences by analysing data collected within the Swiss IBD cohort study database since 2008, related to children with IBD, using the Montreal classification for a systematic approach. METHODS: Data on gender, age, anthropometrics, disease location at diagnosis, disease behaviour, and therapy of 196 patients, 105 with Crohn's disease (CD) and 91 with ulcerative or indeterminate colitis (UC/IC) were retrieved and analysed. RESULTS: The crude gender ratio (male : female) of patients with CD diagnosed at <10 years of age was 2.57, the adjusted ratio was 2.42, and in patients with UC/IC it was 0.68 and 0.64 respectively. The non-adjusted gender ratio of patients diagnosed at > or =10 years was 1.58 for CD and 0.88 for UC/IC. Boys with UC/IC diagnosed <10 years of age had a longer diagnostic delay, and in girls diagnosed with UC/IC >10 years a more important use of azathioprine was observed. No other gender difference was found after analysis of age, disease location and behaviour at diagnosis, duration of disease, familial occurrence of IBD, prevalence of extra-intestinal manifestations, complications, and requirement for surgery. CONCLUSION: CD in children <10 years affects predominantly boys with a sex ratio of 2.57; the impact of sex-hormones on the development of CD in pre-pubertal male patients should be investigated.
Azathioprine ; Child ; Classification ; Cohort Studies* ; Colitis ; Crohn Disease ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases* ; Male ; Prevalence ; Sex Ratio ; Ulcer

diagnosis according to the Paris classification by comparison with patients from the European multicenter 5-years recruitment of children with newly developed IBD (EUROKIDS registry).METHODS: Korean children and adolescents who had been newly diagnosed with CD at the age of < 18 years during 2013–2016 were included in this multicenter retrospective study. Disease phenotype at diagnosis was classified according to the Paris classification, and compared with the published data from the EUROKIDS study.RESULTS: A total of 255 patients were included. The median diagnosis age was 14.7 years (range, 0.8–17.9 years). No significant difference was observed in male-to-female ratio with EUROKIDS (1.9:1 vs. 1.45:1, p=0.062). The proportion of children aged < 10 years was significantly lower in Koreans (7.1% vs. 19.6%, p < 0.001). Colonic disease was less prominent (10.0% vs. 27.3%, p < 0.001), while upper GI involvement was more prominent in Korean children (59.3% vs. 46.2%, p < 0.001). The proportion with perianal fistulizing disease at diagnosis was significantly higher in Korean patients (44.8% vs. 8.2%, p < 0.001). A separate analysis of Korean patients revealed that perianal fistulizing disease at diagnosis was positively associated with male sex and body mass index z-score (odds ratio [OR]=2.12, 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.20–3.76, p=0.010; and OR=1.29, 95% CI=1.05–1.58, p=0.015, respectively).CONCLUSION: Approximately half of pediatric CD patients in Korea present with perianal fistulas and/or abscesses at diagnosis, which is a distinct feature of CD in Korean children and adolescents compared to their European counterparts. An underlying genetic difference between ethnicities may play a role in this expression of different phenotypes in pediatric CD.]]>
Abscess ; Adolescent ; Body Mass Index ; Child ; Classification ; Colonic Diseases ; Crohn Disease ; Diagnosis ; Europe ; Fistula ; Humans ; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases ; Korea ; Male ; Pediatrics ; Phenotype ; Retrospective Studies

BACKGROUND/AIMS: As the number of Asian patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has increased recently, there is a growing need to improve IBD care in this region. This study is aimed at determining how Asian countries are currently dealing with their IBD patients in terms of diagnosis. METHODS: A questionnaire was designed by the organizing committee of Asian Organization for Crohn's and Colitis, for a multinational web-based survey conducted between March 2014 and May 2014. RESULTS: A total of 353 Asian medical doctors treating IBD patients responded to the survey (114 in China, 88 in Japan, 116 in Korea, and 35 in other Asian countries). Most of the respondents were gastroenterologists working in an academic teaching hospital. While most of the doctors from China, Japan, and Korea use their own national guidelines for IBD diagnosis, those from other Asian countries most commonly adopt the European Crohn's Colitis Organisation's guideline. Japanese doctors seldom adopt the Montreal classification for IBD. The most commonly used activity scoring system for ulcerative colitis is the Mayo score in all countries except China, whereas that for Crohn's disease (CD) is the Crohn's Disease Activity Index. The most available tool for small-bowel evaluation in CD patients differs across countries. Many physicians administer empirical anti-tuberculous medications before the diagnosis of CD. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this survey demonstrate that Asian medical doctors have different diagnostic approaches for IBD. This knowledge would be important in establishing guidelines for improving the care of IBD patients in this region.
Asia* ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group* ; China ; Classification ; Colitis* ; Colitis, Ulcerative ; Crohn Disease ; Diagnosis* ; Hospitals, Teaching ; Humans ; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases* ; Japan ; Korea ; Seoul* ; Surveys and Questionnaires

BACKGROUND: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a heterogeneous chronic disease of unknown etiology. Although it is an important disease that shows a rapid increase in pediatric population, there are no pediatric studies that represent a specific region in Korea. Therefore, we studied the epidemiological and phenotypic characteristics of pediatric IBD in Daegu-Kyungpook province, Korea. METHODS: We included 122 children with pediatric IBD initially diagnosed at one of four university hospitals in Daegu-Kyungpook province between July 2010 and June 2016. We investigated the incidence trends, and the clinical characteristics at diagnosis were compared by Paris classification. RESULTS: We included 122 children: 98 with Crohn's disease (CD) and 24 with ulcerative colitis (UC). The average age at diagnosis was 13.6 years for IBD. The incidence shows an increasing trend. CD showed a significant increase, whereas UC appears to be increasing slowly. In CD, there was a significant male predominance. For disease activity sites, the most common location was L3 (77.6%), indicating ileocolonic involvement as the major type. B1 (88.8%) was the most common disease behaviors type. Perianal disease was noted in 43 patients (43.9%) and weight loss in 60 (61.2%). In UC, E4 (58.4%) was the most common disease activity site, indicating pancolonic involvement as the major type. CONCLUSION: We found that the number of pediatric patients with IBD is increasing rapidly in Daegu-Kyungpook province in Korea. Our study also revealed that the characteristics of pediatric IBD in our province differ somewhat from those of pediatric IBD in Western countries.
Adolescent ; Child ; Chronic Disease ; Classification ; Colitis, Ulcerative ; Crohn Disease ; Diagnosis ; Hospitals, University ; Humans ; Incidence* ; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases* ; Korea* ; Male ; Weight Loss

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Despite the rising incidence and prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in Asian populations, data regarding clinical characteristics of patients in Asia based on age at diagnosis are relatively sparse. The aim of this study was to compare clinical characteristics based on the age at diagnosis according to the Montreal Classification in Korean IBD patients. METHODS: We recruited consecutive patients with IBD at two tertiary hospitals and retrospectively reviewed their medical information. Patients were divided into three groups according to their age at diagnosis: youth (<17 years), young adult (17-40 years), and middle-old (>40 years). The main clinical characteristics for comparison were the achievement of a remission state at the last follow-up visit, cumulative rate of surgery, and cumulative use of immunomodulators and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha) blockers during the follow-up period. RESULTS: In total, 346 IBD patients were included (Crohn's disease [CD] 146 and ulcerative colitis 200; 36 youth, 202 young adult, and 113 middle-old). The middle-old group with CD was characterized by a predominance of uncomplicated behavior (P=0.013) and a lower frequency of perianal disease (P=0.009). The middle-old group was associated more with a less aggressive disease course than the younger group, as shown by more frequent remission (P=0.004), being less likely to undergo surgery (P<0.001), and lower cumulative use of immunomodulators and TNFalpha blockers (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Age at diagnosis according to the Montreal Classification is an important prognostic factor for Korean IBD patients.
Adolescent ; Age of Onset ; Asia ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Classification ; Colitis, Ulcerative ; Crohn Disease ; Diagnosis* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Immunologic Factors ; Incidence ; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases* ; Prevalence ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Tertiary Care Centers ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; Young Adult