P043 Resource Utilization and Productivity Loss among Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Sweden: A Longitudinal Nationwide Population-based Study
Authors: Cai Qian , Sanon Myrlene , Batyrbekova Nurgul , Di Scala Lilla , Kavanagh Shane 
Published: December 2021

BACKGROUND:

Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) are the two most prevalent forms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) causing frequent diarrhea, rectal bleeding, fatigue, and abdominal pain. IBD may result in complications requiring hospitalizations and surgical procedure, hence IBD can negatively impact patients’ quality of life, work productivity, and increase societal economic burden. Limited data exists assessing epidemiologic trends and population-level health outcomes among patients with IBD in Sweden. This study assessed the trends in annual incidence and prevalence of CD, annual inpatient and outpatient visits, employment status and sickness absence among adults with IBD in Sweden from 2001 to 2017.

METHODS:

Data were acquired from four nationwide registers provided by the National Board of Health and Welfare in Sweden and linked through the unique personal identity number. Individuals aged ≥18 years with ≥2 primary diagnoses of CD (ICD-10 K50) or ≥2 primary diagnoses of UC (ICD-10 K51) from 01/01/2001 to 12/30/2017 were selected. Date of the first CD or UC diagnosis was designated as index date. All individuals were followed until death, lost to follow up or end of study.

RESULTS:

A total of 30,895 patients with CD and 50,415 with UC were included in the analysis, respectively. The mean follow-up for patients was 10.1 (±5.33) and 10.4 (±5.21) years for CD and UC. The mean (±SD) age among CD patients was 40.4 (±18.4) years and 42.6 (±18.2) years for UC. The most frequently observed comorbid condition was noninfective enteritis and colitis for patients with CD (24.2%) and UC (15.7%). The annual incidence of CD was 10 per 100,000 person-years in 2017, while the incidence of UC was 3 per 100,000 in 2017. 40.6% of CD patients and 30.8% of UC patients had ≥ 1 inpatient admission during 1-year post-index period, of which 53.5% and 51.2% had inpatient care lasting more than 1 week. Among patients with ≥ 1 outpatient services (CD: n = 30,675; UC: n = 50,183), 41.7% and 29.2% of patients had more than 5 visits during 1-year post-index period. Among patients who were eligible for employment and disability benefit analyses who had at least 1-year follow-up (CD: n = 23,731; UC: n = 39,391), 27.9% of CD patients and 23.1% of UC patients were not in employment; among those who were in employment (CD: n = 17,039; UC: n=30,302), 30% and 24.6% reported sickness absence within the calendar year after the index date, respectively.

CONCLUSION:

Findings from this study of a large national cohort of patients followed for many years demonstrates the significant epidemiological, clinical, and socioeconomic impact of patients with CD and UC. Further research is needed to understand underlying factors driving inpatient admissions among patients with IBD. With an increasing annual prevalence, IBD continues to impose a substantial public health burden to patients, their families and health care services.