Table 1.
Summary of baseline characteristics and therapies
| COVID-19 pandemic period cohort (n=398) | Historical control cohort (n=384) | p value | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (years)* | 38·0 (27·0–54·8) | 36·0 (26·0–52·0) | 0·12 | ||
| Sex | .. | .. | 0·83 | ||
| Male | 193 (48%) | 190 (49%) | .. | ||
| Female | 205 (52%) | 194 (51%) | .. | ||
| Body-mass index (kg/m2)† | 24·4 (21·9–27·4) | 24·4 (20·9–28·4) | 0·90 | ||
| Smoking status | .. | .. | 0·69 | ||
| Non-smoker | 212/312 (68%) | 186/283 (66%) | .. | ||
| Ex-smoker | 78/312 (25%) | 72/283 (25%) | .. | ||
| Current smoker | 22/312 (7%) | 25/283 (9%) | .. | ||
| Ethnicity | .. | .. | 0·18 | ||
| White | 294/363 (81%) | 253/323 (78%) | .. | ||
| Asian | 42/363 (12%) | 44/323 (14%) | .. | ||
| Black | 14/363 (4%) | 12/323 (4%) | .. | ||
| Arab | 4/363 (1%) | 4/323 (1%) | .. | ||
| Mixed | 1/363 (<1%) | 7/323 (2%) | .. | ||
| Other | 8/363 (2%) | 3/323 (10%) | .. | ||
| Comorbidities | |||||
| Hypertension | 40 (10%) | 37 (10%) | 0·90 | ||
| Diabetes | 26 (7%) | 30 (8%) | 0·49 | ||
| Cardiovascular disease‡ | 22 (6%) | 25 (7%) | 0·65 | ||
| Chronic kidney disease | 3 (1%) | 5 (1%) | 0·50 | ||
| Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease | 12 (3%) | 5 (1%) | 0·14 | ||
| Asthma | 35 (9%) | 32 (8%) | 0·90 | ||
| Chronic liver disease§ | 3 (1%) | 3 (1%) | 1·0 | ||
| Current malignancy | 4 (1%) | 3 (1%) | 1·0 | ||
| Solid organ transplant | 0 | 1 (<1%) | 1·0 | ||
| Stroke | 5 (1%) | 2 (1%) | 0·45 | ||
| Number of comorbidities | .. | .. | 0·81 | ||
| 0 | 279 (70%) | 277 (72%) | .. | ||
| 1 | 85 (21%) | 72 (19%) | .. | ||
| 2 | 21 (5%) | 23 (6%) | .. | ||
| >2 | 13 (3%) | 12 (3%) | .. | ||
| Time since diagnosis (years)¶ | 1·0 (0·0–5·0) | 2·0 (0·0–6·0) | 0·14 | ||
| IBD subtype | .. | .. | 1·0 | ||
| Ulcerative colitis | 18 (5%) | 18 (5%) | .. | ||
| IBD unclassified | 380 (95%) | 366 (95%) | .. | ||
| Disease extent | .. | .. | 0·57 | ||
| Proctitis | 25/338 (7%) | 33/371 (9%) | .. | ||
| Left-sided colitis | 169/338 (50%) | 172/371 (46%) | .. | ||
| Extensive colitis | 144/338 (43%) | 166/371 (45%) | .. | ||
| Therapies before acute severe ulcerative colitis | |||||
| No treatment | 105 (26%) | 114 (30%) | 0·34 | ||
| Oral mesalazine | 200 (50%) | 191 (50%) | 0·94 | ||
| Rectal mesalazine | 55 (14%) | 49 (13%) | 0·67 | ||
| Rectal steroids | 19 (5%) | 8 (2%) | 0·049 | ||
| Any oral steroid | 148/382 (39%) | 95/368 (26%) | 0·0015 | ||
| Type of oral steroid | .. | .. | 0·17 | ||
| Poorly bioavailable corticosteroids‖ | 23/147 (16%) | 8/92 (9%) | .. | ||
| Prednisolone | 124/147 (84%) | 84/92 (91%) | .. | ||
| Thiopurines** | 65 (16%) | 56 (15%) | 0·55 | ||
| All biologicals or small molecules†† | 107 (27%) | 70 (18%) | 0·0047 | ||
| Anti-tumour necrosis factor drugs‡‡ | 65 (16%) | 48 (13%) | 0·15 | ||
| Vedolizumab | 27 (7%) | 17 (4%) | 0·16 | ||
| Ustekinumab | 3 (1%) | 0 | 0·25 | ||
| Tofacitinib | 12 (3%) | 6 (2%) | 0·23 | ||
| Number of previous admissions with acute severe ulcerative colitis | .. | .. | 0·70 | ||
| 0 | 192/364 (53%) | 174/309 (56%) | .. | ||
| 1 | 92/364 (25%) | 78/309 (25%) | .. | ||
| 2 | 48/364 (13%) | 33/309 (11%) | .. | ||
| >2 | 32/364 (9%) | 24/309 (8%) | .. | ||
Data are median (IQR), n (%), or n/N (%), when N differs from the total in the table heading. p values were calculated by Fisher's exact test or Mann-Whitney U test for discrete and continuous variables, respectively. IBD=inflammatory bowel disease.
*
N=782 (398 cases and 384 controls).
†
N=436 (236 cases and 200 controls).
‡
Coronary artery disease, heart failure, and arrythmia.
§
Primary sclerosing cholangitis, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and cirrhosis.
¶
N=739 (379 cases and 360 controls).
‖
Beclometasone dipropionate and budesonide.
**
Azathioprine, mercaptopurine, or tioguanine.
††
Infliximab, adalimumab, golimumab, vedolizumab, tofacitinib, or ustekinumab.
‡‡
Infliximab, adalimumab, and golimumab.