Comorbidities in patients with ulcerative colitis

Objective: to assess comorbidities in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and their effect on the disease course. We examined 61 patients (39 women and 22 men aged between 18 and 60 years) with a confirmed diagnosis of UC. Study participants were divided into two groups depending on rate of UC progression: the experimental group included 32 patients with frequent UC relapses and rapid development of complications, while the control group comprised 29 patients with a slowly progressing disease. Comorbidities were evaluated using the Charlson Comorbidity Index, Cumulative Illness Rating Scale (CIRS), and Cumulative Illness Rating Scale for Geriatrics (CIRS-G). The assessment of the basic component was performed using the method of morphofunctional index [Kurnikova I. A., 2010]. Biological age was estimated using the method developed by V.O. Voytenko (1991). To evaluate the impact of UC on biological age, it was compared with the appropriate biological age and real age. Data analysis was performed using the STATISTICA 6.0 software. When analyzing comorbidities, we observed a high prevalence of anemia in UC patients and an insignificant proportion of childhood infectious diseases in the control group. Patients with rapidly progressing UC were more likely to have chronic recurrent bronchitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease than controls. The analysis of surgical interventions and the frequency of heart diseases demonstrated that UC patients often undergo surgeries (with no significant difference between the groups). During medical and social examination of UC patients, it is important to take into account the degree of comorbidity, even without serious functional abnormalities. The use of the CIRS-g calculator is a promising approach.