Elderly-onset ulcerative colitis increases mortality risk

PHILADELPHIA — Patients who were diagnosed with ulcerative colitis at a later age had an increased risk for mortality compared with patients without inflammatory bowel disease, according to research presented at the American College of Gastroenterology Annual Meeting.

“Elderly onset ulcerative colitis, or EOUC, is most commonly defined as new onset UC after 60 years of age, and it’s being increasingly recognized as a distinct subpopulation due to its unique clinical presentation and disease course,” Louise Wang, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania, said during her presentation. “While the clinical course and therapeutic management of [EOUC] has been extensively studied, there’s little data on mortality among patients with [EOUC], which is an important prognostic sign at the time of diagnosis.”

To explore all-cause mortality among patients with EOUC (n = 7,112) compared with an age-matched non-IBD population (n = 12,385), researchers conducted a retrospective cohort study using data from the Veterans Affairs Informatics and Computing Infrastructure.

Patients with EOUC had a worse overall survival compared with non-IBD patients (P < .0001) and experienced a higher incidence rate of death after UC diagnosis based on deaths per 1,000 patient years (106.8; 95% CI, 106.7–106.9 vs. 74.5; 95% CI, 74.5–74.6).

Wang and colleagues found that EOUC was associated with higher mortality (HR = 1.5; 95% CI, 1.42–1.58) after adjusting for age, sex, race, location and comorbidity index.

“The higher comorbidity status may account for part, but definitely not all, of the mortality risk that’s associated with UC,” Wang said. “These are obviously very important prognostic findings for patients, as well as providers, at the time of diagnosis.” – by Alex Young

Reference :

Wang L, et al. Abstract 53. Presented at: American College of Gastroenterology Annual Scientific Meeting; Oct. 5-10, 2018; Philadelphia.

Disclosure: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.