[Differences by age in clinical features of inflammatory bowel disease].

Background: Approximately, 15% of patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) are diagnosed at 60 years of age or more.

Aim: To characterize and compare clinical variables between patients with IBD aged 60 years or more and their younger counterparts.

Material And Methods: Retrospective study based on a registry of IBD patients diagnosed between the years 1976 and 2014.

Results: Four hundred and nine IBD patients were included. Among them, 294 had Ulcerative Colitis (UC), 104 had Crohn's Disease (CD) and eleven had an indeterminate IBD. Forty-six patients (11.2%) were older than 60 years and 16 (3.9%) had been diagnosed after this age. When comparing patients by age, those aged 60 years or more had a higher frequency of CD and indeterminate IBD (p < 0.01) and a lower ileocolic location in CD (p = 0.02). Both groups were similar in terms of hospitalization due to IBD flare, surgery, use of steroids, immunosuppressive or biological therapies and drug-related adverse events. When analyzing age at diagnosis of IBD, patients diagnosed at ages of 60 years or more had a lower frequency of UC (p < 0.01), a higher frequency of exclusive colonic involvement (p = 0.01), and lower use of mesalamine (p < 0.01). There were no differences in drug-related adverse events, hospitalizations due to IBD flares and surgery according to age at diagnosis.

Conclusions: In this population, clinical features of IBD in older patients were similar to those in younger patients.