Background/Aims: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is increasing across the globe, more so in populous countries like India. We aimed to study the disease burden and epidemiological trends of IBD in India and look closer into the disease pattern across the country from 1990 to 2019. Methods: The burden of IBD was estimated in India using the data from the Global Burden of Disease estimate for 2019, which is a comprehensive worldwide project. The analysis included various parameters like incidence, prevalence, mortality, disability-adjusted life years, years lived with disability, and years of life lost as age-adjusted rates (per 100,000 population). Using modeling, the prediction was also made for 2050 in India. Results: The age-standardized incidence, prevalence, mortality, and disability rates of IBD in India for 2019 were 2.34, 20.34, 0.40, and 13.04, respectively. These are lower than the global incidence, prevalence, mortality, and disability rates of 4.97, 59.25, 0.54, and 20.15, respectively. The annual rates of change in incidence, prevalence, mortality, and disability rates in India from 1990 to 2019 were 0.05, –0.02, –0.36, and –0.35, respectively. The annual rates of change in incidence and prevalence are higher than the global rate of –0.18 and –0.19, while the annual rates of change in mortality and disability are lower than the global rate of –0.19 and –0.26. Conclusions The incidence and prevalence of IBD in India are lower compared to the global population but are increasing at a faster rate than the global population.

Background/Aims: Patients of ulcerative colitis (UC) on follow-up are routinely evaluated by sigmoidoscopy. There is no prospective literature to support this practice. We assessed agreement between sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy prospectively in patients with disease extent beyond the sigmoid colon. Methods: We conducted a prospective observational study at a tertiary care institute for agreement between sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy. We assessed endoscopic activity using the Mayo Endoscopic Score (MES) and Ulcerative Colitis Endoscopic Index of Severity (UCEIS) and histological activity using the Nancy Index (NI), Robarts Histopathology Index (RHI), and Simplified Geboes Score (SGS). Results: Sigmoidoscopy showed a strong agreement with colonoscopy for MES and UCEIS with a kappa (κ) of 0.96 and 0.94 respectively. The misclassification rate for MES and UCEIS was 3% and 5% respectively. Sigmoidoscopy showed perfect agreement (κ = 1.00) with colonoscopy for assessment of the presence of endoscopic activity in the colon using MES ≥ 1 as activity criteria and strong agreement (κ = 0.93) using MES > 1 as activity criteria. Sigmoidoscopy showed strong agreement with colonoscopy for assessment of the presence of endoscopic activity using UCEIS (κ = 0.92). Strong agreement was observed between sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy using NI (κ = 0.86), RHI (κ = 1.00), and SGS (κ = 0.92) for the detection of histological activity. The misclassification rate for the detection of histological activity was 2%, 0%, and 1% for NI, RHI, and SGS respectively. Conclusions Sigmoidoscopy showed strong agreement with colonoscopy for endoscopic and histologic disease activity. Sigmoidoscopy is adequate for assessment of disease activity in patients with UC during follow-up evaluation.

Background/Aims: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is recognized to have variable clinical manifestations. The clinical presentation of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) having COVID-19 is unclear. Methods: We identified articles reporting about the clinical presentation of COVID-19 in those with underlying IBD from PubMed and Embase. The studies, irrespective of design or language, were included. The overall pooled frequency of various symptoms was estimated. Joanna Briggs Institute Critical appraisal checklist was used to assess the quality of studies. Results: Eleven studies, including 1,325 patients, were included in the pooled analysis. The pooled estimates for clinical presentation were; fever: 67.53% (95% confidence interval [CI], 45.38–83.88), cough: 59.58% (95% CI, 45.01–72.63), diarrhea: 27.26% (95% CI, 19.51–36.69), running nose: 27% (95% CI, 15.26–43.19) and dyspnea: 25.29% (95% CI, 18.52–33.52). The pooled prevalence rates for abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting were 13.08% (95% CI, 9.24–18.19), 10.08% (95% CI, 5.84–16.85) and 8.80% (95% CI, 4.43–16.70) per 100 population, respectively. Conclusions The clinical presentation of COVID-19 in IBD patients is similar to the general population.