Authors
Mohammad Shehab, Nahla Azzam, Ahmed Al-Hindawi, Fatema Alrashed, Badr Al-Bawardy, Sara Abid, Abdulelah A Bashandi, Reem M AlShihri, Mariam Mukhtar, Omar Saadah, Othman Alharbi, Ahmed Al-Darmaki, Shamsa Al Harthi, Khalid Al-Ejji, Ahmed Ayash, Abdullah Al Sahli, Nadia Khamees, Osama E Salem, Eman A Mohamed, Maha Maher, Gehad Daba, Ahmed Alwassief Helal, Mohamad Abdulhakim Alnassar, Ahmed Alfadhli, Mohammed Nabil Quraishi, Shane W Goodwin, Yuhong Yuan, Mahmoud Mosli, Vipul Jairath
Published in
Journal of Crohn's & colitis. Volume 20. Issue 9. Sep 03, 2026.
Abstract
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is increasing in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), yet region-specific evidence on phenotype and treatment patterns remains limited. We aimed to characterize IBD epidemiology, clinical phenotypes, and therapy use across MENA centers.
This was a multicenter cross-sectional study across 13 centers in seven MENA countries. Adults with ulcerative colitis (UC), Crohn's disease (CD), or IBD-unclassified (IBD-U) were included. Demographics, Montreal phenotype/behavior, smoking status, disease duration, perianal disease, and therapies were collected. Descriptive statistics and between-group comparisons were performed.
We analyzed 10 340 patients (52% UC, 45% CD, 3% IBD-U). Mean age was 39.79 ± 14.4 years in UC and 34.57 ± 12.9 years in CD (P < .0001). UC patients were slightly more often female (51.6%), while CD patients were male-predominant (59.0%). Current smoking was more common in CD than in UC (12.0% vs 5.6%). Mean disease duration was 9.73 ± 7.5 years, longest in Jordan (14.1 years) and shortest in Qatar (2.45 years; P < .001). Biologic exposure differed by subtype (P < .001), with the highest rate in CD (57.9%). In UC, extensive colitis (E3) was the most common phenotype. In CD, ileocolonic involvement (L3) predominated with mainly non-stricturing, non-penetrating behavior (B1). Perianal disease affected approximately 13% overall, with rates varying by country, highest in UAE and lowest in Egypt and Qatar.
This multi-country hospital-based registry study helps define contemporary IBD patterns in MENA: slight UC predominance, high rates of extensive UC and ileocolonic B1 CD, and heterogeneous biologic use. Our data provide insights into regional IBD epidemiological trends and treatment adoption.
PMID:
42832339
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 06 Oct 2026.
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