(HealthDay)—Asthma is associated with subsequent development of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), according to a study published in the September issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

M. Ellen Kuenzig, Ph.D., from University of Calgary in Canada, and colleagues used health administrative data to examine the association between a diagnosis of asthma and Crohn's disease (3,087 patients) or (2,377 patients) compared to a diagnosis of asthma among persons without IBD (402,800 patients).

The researchers found that a diagnosis of asthma was associated with increased odds of incident Crohn's disease (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 1.45; 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.31 to 1.60). Age at diagnosis did not change the effect for Crohn's disease (P > 0.42). However, age at diagnosis did modify the effect for ulcerative colitis (P = 0.0103), with an adjusted OR of 1.49 (95 percent CI, 1.08 to 2.07) for individuals diagnosed at ≤16 years and an adjusted OR of 1.57 (95 percent CI, 1.31 to 1.89) among individuals diagnosed at >40 years. Among individuals diagnosed between ages 17 and 40 years, there was no association between asthma and ulcerative colitis (adjusted OR, 1.05; 95 percent CI, 0.86 to 1.26).

"In a population-based case-control study, we associated with Crohn's disease, and with early- and late-onset ulcerative colitis," the authors write.

More information: Abstract
Full Text

Journal information: Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology