Cohort Profile: The Swiss Inflammatory Bowel Disease Cohort Study (SIBDCS).

The article presents a study about inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) including Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis and indeterminate colitis. The objective of the Swiss Inflammatory Bowel Disease Cohort Study (SIBDCS) is to provide the Swiss and international medical community with a disease-oriented prospective cohort of patients with IBD. Major areas of research include provision of up-to-date epidemiological data, and investigation of risk factors associated with the evolution of the disease.