The Epimad registry is a prospective population-based study that recorded all incident cases of IBD in Northern France since 1988. Four administrative areas (Nord, Pas-de-Calais, Somme, Seine Maritime) are covered by the registry, corresponding to 9.3 % of the French population.
The Epimad registry is the only French registry for IBD, but also the largest in the world.
Epimad received the label « Registry » by the National Committee of Registries in 1992 and update in 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2021 with an official support from INSERM and Santé Publique France (Public Health France).
The objectives of the Epimad registry are:
- To determine the incidence of IBD in a population-based cohort of the Northern France
- To investigate the temporal evolution and the spatial heterogeneity of the incidence of IBD
- To increase the knowledge of the natural history of IBD (rate of complicated diseases, hospitalization, surgery, quality of life, impact of therapeutic strategies…)
- To investigate risk factors of IBD from large analytical epidemiological studies.
