Registry to Study the Incidence, Phenotype, Risk Factors and Clinical Course of Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Zimbabwe

A prospective observational registry with a nested case-control study will be established at a gastrointestinal outpatient's clinic at a tertiary care hospital in Harare, Zimbabwe. The registry will recruit confirmed cases of inflammatory bowel disease from the clinic, other hospitals within and outside Harare, and from private practitioners. Two controls, a sibling or cousin, and an individual living in the same neighbourhood will also be recruited for each case. Demographic and clinical data will be obtained for all cases at baseline, after 6 months and annually thereafter. A questionnaire adapted from the International Organisation of IBD for risk factors of inflammatory bowel disease, and a food frequency questionnaire will be administered to all participants. Stool specimens, and germline DNA from peripheral blood will be biobanked in the Department of Medicine at the University of Zimbabwe. Preliminary data analysis will be carried out after at least 100 patients have been recruited. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarise data on demographic and phenotypic characteristics of inflammatory bowel disease, and incidence will be estimated for Harare. Risk factors for inflammatory bowel disease will be analysed using conditional logistic regression.