Clinical practice and outcome of patients with elderly-onset ulcerative colitis: Insights from a nationwide claims database study in Japan

Background and aim: The number of older patients with ulcerative colitis is increasing; however, limited data exist regarding the differences between elderly- and non-elderly-onset ulcerative colitis. We aimed to compare the clinical practice and course of elderly-onset ulcerative colitis with those of non-elderly-onset ulcerative colitis.

Methods: We selected older patients with ulcerative colitis and divided them into the elderly- and non-elderly-onset ulcerative colitis groups according to their age at onset. We compared the cumulative systemic steroid-free, molecular targeting drug-free, and surgery-free rates between the two groups. We performed a multivariate analysis to identify the clinical factors related to systemic steroid administration, the use of molecular targeting drugs, surgery, and death.

Results: We collected data of 2669 and 277 elderly and non-elderly-onset ulcerative colitis patients, respectively. The cumulative systemic steroid-free rate of elderly-onset ulcerative colitis was significantly lower than that of non-elderly-onset ulcerative colitis. However, no difference was observed in the cumulative molecular targeting drugs and surgery-free rates between the two groups. Elderly-onset ulcerative colitis significantly increased the risk of systemic steroid administration and death but not the use of molecular targeting drugs and surgery.

Conclusion: The disease severity of ulcerative colitis and clinical practice may not differ between the elderly- and non-elderly-onset groups. However, elderly-onset ulcerative colitis was associated with increased mortality risk. Thus, we need to pay attention to the patients' condition and appropriate timing of surgery for patients with elderly-onset ulcerative colitis.