BMC Gastroenterology (Jan 2021)

Prevalence and risk factors of bowel symptoms in Korean patients with ulcerative colitis in endoscopic remission: a retrospective study

  • Kwangwoo Nam,
  • Sang Hyoung Park,
  • Jun Ho Oh,
  • Ho-Su Lee,
  • Soomin Noh,
  • Jae Cheol Park,
  • Jin Yong Kim,
  • Eun Hye Oh,
  • Jeongseok Kim,
  • Nam Seok Ham,
  • Sung Wook Hwang,
  • Dong-Hoon Yang,
  • Byong Duk Ye,
  • Jeong-Sik Byeon,
  • Seung-Jae Myung,
  • Suk-Kyun Yang

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12876-020-01597-1
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 21, no. 1
pp. 1 – 8

Abstract

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Abstract Background Many patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) in clinical remission frequently complain of bowel symptoms such as increased stool frequency (SF) and rectal bleeding (RB). However, studies on these patient-reported outcomes in patients with inactive UC are limited, especially in Korea. Therefore, we investigated the prevalence and risk factors of bowel symptoms in Korean patients with inactive UC. Methods We investigated the prevalence of bowel symptoms in patients with endoscopically quiescent UC between June 1989 and December 2016 using a well-characterized referral center-based cohort. The Mayo clinic score (MCS) was used to evaluate bowel symptoms at the most recent visit near the date of endoscopy. Clinical characteristics of the patients were compared based on the presence or absence of bowel symptoms. Results Overall, 741 patients with endoscopically quiescent UC were identified, of whom 222 (30%) and 48 (6.5%) had an SF and RB subscore of ≥ 1, respectively. Patients with bowel symptoms (SF + RB ≥ 1; n = 244 [32.9%]) had higher rates of left-sided colitis (E2) or extensive colitis (E3) than patients without bowel symptoms (SF + RB = 0; n = 497 [67.1%]; P = 0.002). Multivariate analysis revealed that female sex (odds ratio [OR]: 1.568; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.023–2.402; P = 0.039) and E2 or E3 (OR 1.411; 95% CI 1.020–1.951; P = 0.038) were the significant risk factors for increased SF. Conclusions This study revealed that one-third of patients with endoscopically quiescent UC reported increased SF. Female sex and disease extent may be associated with bowel symptoms.

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