Characterization of inflammatory bowel disease in Colombia: Results of a national register.

Abstract

To determine the clinical, sociodemographic, and treatment characteristics of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in a Colombian population register. A descriptive, analytic, observational, cross-sectional, multicenter study on patients with IBD from 17 hospital centers in 9 Colombian cities was conducted. A total of 2,291 patients with IBD were documented, 1,813 (79.1%) of whom presented with ulcerative colitis (UC), 456 (19.9%) with Crohn's disease (CD), and 22 with IBD unclassified (0.9%). The UC/CD ratio was 3.9:1. A total of 18.5% of the patients with UC and 47.3% with CD received biologic therapy. Patients with extensive UC had greater biologic therapy use (OR=2.78, 95% CI: 2.10-3.65, p=0.000), a higher surgery rate (OR=5.4, 95% CI: 3.5-8.3, p=0.000), and greater frequency of hospitalization (OR=4.34, 95% CI: 3.47-5.44, p=0.000). Patients with severe UC had greater biologic therapy use (OR=5.04, 95% CI: 3.75-6.78, p=0.000), a higher surgery rate (OR=8.64, 95% CI: 5.4-13.78, p=0.000), and greater frequency of hospitalization (OR=28.45, 95% CI: 19.9-40.7, p=0.000). CD patients with inflammatory disease behavior (B1) presented with a lower frequency of hospitalization (OR=0.12, 95% CI: 0.07-0.19, p=0.000), a lower surgery rate (OR=0.08, 95% CI: 0.043-0.15, p=0.000), and less biologic therapy use (OR=0.26, 95% CI: 0.17-0.41, p=0.000). In Colombia, there is a predominance of UC over CD (3.9:1), as occurs in other Latin American countries. Patients with extensive UC, severe UC, or CD with noninflammatory disease behavior (B2, B3) have a worse prognosis.