Clinical Characteristics of Korean Patients with Elderly-Onset Crohn's Disease: Results from the Prospective CONNECT Study

Abstract

The clinical course and prognosis of patients with elderly-onset Crohn&apos;s disease (CD) remain unclear. This study aimed to analyze the clinical characteristics and outcomes of elderly-onset CD patients from the prospective CONNECT study cohort, a nationwide, multicenter cohort study of patients with CD in Korea. Among a total of 1,175 patients in the prospective CONNECT study cohort, 94 patients (Montreal age A3) were included and divided into two groups according to their age at diagnosis: the elderly-onset group (diagnosed with CD after 60 years of age, n=26, 67.54 +/- 6.7 years) and late adult-onset group (diagnosed as CD at age 41 to 59 years, n=68, 48.06 +/- 5.1 years). The elderly-onset group was characterized by a lower Crohn&apos;s disease activity index at diagnosis (124.89 +/- 101.9 vs 189.55 +/- 128.6, p=0.023) and higher rates of previous antituberculosis treatment (34.6% vs 4.4%, p<0.001) than the late adult-onset group. Compared with the late adult-onset group, the elderly-onset group showed a significantly less use of thiopurines (p=0.003), as well as anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha agents (p=0.047). Additionally, the elderlyonset group was less likely to require bowel resection than the late adult-onset group (p=0.067), suggesting that elderly-onset CD patients in Korea appear to have more favorable clinical outcomes than late adult-onset CD patients. (Gut Liver 2022;16:995-1000)