Age as a clinical predictor of relapse after induction therapy in ulcerative colitis.
OBJECTIVE
Whether older patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) have a better clinical course than younger patients is unclear. We compared the clinical characteristics between older and younger age groups in South Korea to elucidate the impact of age on relapse in UC.


METHODS
Patients between 18 and 85 years old who were diagnosed with UC at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital between 1 May 2003 and 31 Oct 2007 were enrolled. It was reviewed their symptoms, endoscopic and pathologic findings, and drugs used in induction treatment.


RESULTS
Of the 73 patients with UC who achieved remission after induction treatment, 38 relapsed. The patients aged 18-44 and 45-85 years had similar clinical features, but the relapse rate was significantly higher in the younger group (69.2 vs. 32.4%; p = 0.002). In a multivariable analysis, age 45-85 years old was an independent protective factor against relapse (OR, 0.146; 95% CI, 0.035-0.508; p = 0.003) after adjusting for sex, frequency of diarrhea, hematochezia grade, disease extent, and systemic steroid used in induction treatment.


CONCLUSIONS
An age of 45 years or older is an independent predictor of less relapse in UC.
Jang
Eun Sun
ES
Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Gumi-dong 300, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Republic of Korea.
Lee
Dong Ho
DH
Kim
Jaihwan
J
Yang
Hyo-Joon
HJ
Lee
Sang Hyub
SH
Park
Young Soo
YS
Hwang
Jin Hyoek
JH
Kim
Jin-Wook
JW
Jeong
Sook-Hyang
SH
Kim
Nayoung
N
Jung
Hyun Chae
HC
Song
In Sung
IS
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies