Higher use of any prescription medications seen years before IBD diagnosis

Individuals with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) universally show increased prescription medication use years before diagnosis, according to a study published in the December issue of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Linéa Bonfils, M.D., from Aalborg University in Copenhagen, Denmark, and colleagues compared use of any prescription medication between individuals with and without IBD in a 10-year period preceding diagnosis. The analysis included 29,219 individuals diagnosed with IBD in Denmark between 2005 and 2018 and 292,190 matched, IBD-free individuals.

The researchers found that the IBD group had a universally increased use of any prescription medications versus the matched controls before IBD diagnosis. For 12 of 14 Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical main groups of medication, the proportion of users was 1.1-fold to 1.8-fold higher in the IBD population 10 years before diagnosis.

Results were consistent across age, sex, and IBD subtypes, but were most pronounced for Crohn disease (CD). The IBD population had a steep increase in medication use for several organ systems two years before diagnosis. The CD population showed 2.7 times more users of immunosuppressants, 2.3 times more users of antianemic preparations, and 1.9 times more users of both analgesics and psycholeptics than the matched controls 10 years before diagnosis.

"Our findings demonstrate universally increased medication use years before IBD, especially CD, diagnosis and indicates multiorgan involvement in IBD," the authors write.

One author disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.