A Study of the Severity and Onset of Symptoms in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Relation to Various Comorbidities

• Published in: The American journal of gastroenterology Vol. 113; p. S1554
• Main Authors: Alvi, Azva, Bajwa, Maria, Friedman, Jacob, Won, Daehan, Bank, Leslie, Begdache, Lina
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Wolters Kluwer Health Medical Research, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 01.10.2018
• Subjects: Crohn's disease; Gastroenterology; Inflammatory bowel disease; Lifestyles; Machine learning
• ISSN: 0002-9270; 1572-0241

Introduction: Crohns disease and ulcerative colitis are two primary types of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). The severity of these conditions is typically reflected through by a number of other gastrointestinal and extra-intestinal symptoms. These can include symptoms such as diarrhea, constipation, abdominal pain, and blood loss. Psychological disorders, such as depression and anxiety are also consequences of these diseases. While these symptoms may be controlled by medications and adjusting lifestyle, various environmental and biological factors can trigger flare-ups and affect the severity of the disease. Methods: A de-identified database of 700 IBD patients obtained by Binghamton Gastroenterology Associates, included data on demographics, vitals, medical treatments, severity, symptoms, medical/ surgical history, flare-ups, psychological disorders and other medical problems. There are 381 females and 319 males, ages ranges between 11 to 99 years. Logistic regression, and machine learning modeling were used to assess data to predict relationships of the severity of IBD with other comorbidities, demographics, BMI, and lifestyle choices such as smoking and alcohol use. Results: BMI and the number of flare ups significantly associated with the severity of IBD. However, smoking, or smoking and BMI did not associate with the severity of IBD. A Support Vector Machine revealed, a form of a modeling machine learning, suggests that family history, gender, number of flare ups, intestinal symptoms, BMI, and age are predictors of IBD severity. Conclusion: The data reveals valuable associations between the provided factors and severity of IBD which demonstrates the ubiquitous effects of the disease. Its manifestations go beyond the simple inflammatory aspect of both Crohns Disease and Ulcerative Colitis in that lifestyle choices and severity are significantly associated. This supports many treatment approaches involving a lifestyle change, used by many doctors for patients with IBD. In addition, future research may be done on a more individual and specific perspective for the individual impacting factors.