Mortality and causes of death in patients with chronic inflammatory bowel disease in Gijón, Asturias (Spain).

Objective: to review mortality, survival, influence of age at diagnosis and at death, cause of death, and relation with the extent of chronic inflammatory bowel disease, in a city in northern Spain.

Method: descriptive retrospective epidemiological study of 516 patients diagnosed in Gijón (Asturias) between 1954 and 1997.

Results: of the 26 patients who died (5.03%), 18 had ulcerative colitis, 8 had Crohn's disease, and none had indeterminate colitis. Mortality was higher than in the general population, with a standard mortality ratio (SMR) of 5 (95% confidence interval 1.6-11.6). We found no differences in sex ratio (p = 0.63). Mean duration of the disease was 10 +/- 8 years in surviving patients, and 6 +/- 6 years in patients who died (p = 0.02). Duration was longer in Crohn's disease than in ulcerative colitis (p = 0.014). Mean age at diagnosis for chronic inflammatory bowel disease was 37.5 +/- 17 years in patients who survived, and 58 +/- 18 years in patients who died (p = 0.0005). Mean age at death was 64 +/- 20 years. In Crohn's disease, the most frequent cause of death was the primary disease (50%), followed by tumors of different origin (37.5%). In ulcerative colitis the primary disease was also the most frequent cause of death (38.%), followed by thromboembolic disease (22.2%) and tumors (22.2%).

Conclusions: mortality among patients with chronic inflammatory bowel disease is higher than in the general population in our setting, decreases as duration of the disease increases, and is higher in patients diagnosed at older ages. Fewer than half the deaths were due to the primary disease; many patients with Crohn's disease died from tumors or thromboembolic disease.