Progression of Elderly Onset Inflammatory Bowel Diseases: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Population-Based Cohort Studies

Abstract

Background & aims: The incidence of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) in older adults is increasing. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate progression of elderly onset (EO) IBD in population-based cohorts and compared it with adult onset (AO) IBD.

Methods: In a systematic review through June 1, 2019, we identified population-based cohort studies of EO IBD reporting the cumulative risk of hospitalization, surgery, mortality, treatment patterns, escalation, and/or malignancy. Data were synthesized using random-effects meta-analysis as cumulative risk of events at 1 year, 5 years, and 10 years, and compared with data from patients with AO IBD in the same cohorts.

Results: We identified 9 studies, comprising 14,765 patients with EO IBD. In patients with EO Crohn's disease (CD), the cumulative 5-year risk of surgery was 22.6% (95% CI, 18.7-27.2) and was similar to that of patients with AO CD (relative risk [RR], 1.04; 95% CI, 0.80-1.34). Overall exposure to corticosteroids was comparable between patients with EO CD vs AO CD (5-year risk: 55.4%; 95% CI, 53.4-57.4; RR, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.78-1.00), but exposure to immunomodulators (31.5%; 95% CI, 29.7-33.4; RR, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.51-0.77) or biologic agents (6.5%; 95% CI, 5.6-7.6; RR, 0.36; 95% CI, 0.25-0.52) was significantly lower for patients with EO CD than for patients with AO CD. Similarly, in patients with EO ulcerative colitis (UC), the cumulative 5-year risk of surgery was 7.8% (95% CI, 5.0-12.0), similar to the risk for patients with AO UC (RR, 1.29; 95% CI, 0.79-2.11). Overall exposure to corticosteroids was comparable between patients with EO UC vs AO UC (5-year risk: 57.2%; 95% CI, 55.6-58.7; RR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.91-1.06), but exposure to immunomodulators (16.1%; 95% CI, 15.0-17.2; RR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.54-0.62) or biologic agents (2.0%; 95% CI, 1.6-2.5; RR, 0.36; 95% CI, 0.24-0.52) was significantly lower for patients with EO UC than for patients with AO UC. Patients with EO IBD appeared to have increased mortality, but not malignancy, compared with the general population. There were few data on comorbidities or adverse effects of medications.

Conclusions: In a systematic review and meta-analysis, we found that patients with EO IBD have a similar risk of surgery as patients with AO IBD. However, patients with EO IBD are less likely to receive treatment with immunomodulators or biologic agents.

Keywords: Aged; drug; natural history; prognostic factor.

Figure 1:

Study selection flowsheet

Figure 2:

1-, 5-, 10-year and cumulative risks of (A) surgery*, (B) hospitalization, (C) corticosteroid use, (D) immunomodulator use, and (E) TNFα antagonist use, plotted as median and range. EO-CD=elderly-onset Crohn’s disease (solid circle), AO-CD=adult-onset Crohn’s disease (clear circle), EO-UC=elderly-onset ulcerative colitis (solid square), AO-UC=adult-onset ulcerative colitis (clear square) *Adult-onset data for one study (Nguyen) included only 18–40yo patients