Long term outcomes in inflammatory bowel disease
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The effect of Aspirin, non-Aspirin NSAID’s, Statins and Opioid use on long term outcomes in Inflammatory Bowel Disease. A retrospective cohort study from a UK General Practice database
IRAS ID
147417
Contact name
Venkat Subramanian
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Faculty of Medicine and Health Research
Research summary
Inflammatory bowel disease comprises ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD). They cause inflammation and damage to the large bowel (UC) and entire digestive tract (CD). They are lifelong conditions and the goal of therapy is to reduce flares of disease and the complications from long term inflammation.
There are many commonly prescribed medications which may affect the activity of disease. In addition to medications prescribed purposefully for IBD, drugs like aspirin, non—aspirin NSAID’s (NA-NSAIDs), statins and opioid analgesics are often co-prescribed to patients, but their long term effects on disease outcome are largely unknown. There is accumulating evidence that NA-NSAIDs and statins may reduce gut inflammation and also the occurrence of colorectal cancer in patients with IBD. Chronic opioid use has been associated with a worsening of abdominal pain called “narcotic bowel”. There are also studies which suggest that opioid use reduces hospital readmission rates but little is known about the long term implications of opioid use in IBD.
We aim to examine the effects of these commonly prescribed medications on the risk of abdominal surgery, hospitalization, flares of disease and complications of IBD including cancer and mortality. To achieve these aims we will examine all patients with IBD in the ResearchOne database. This database comprises GP medical records from a population of over 5 million patients in the UK. The database holds extensive patient information including detailed prescription records. The data is also linked to hospital records. We will retrospectively examine medication use in this cohort of patients and search for any relationship between these drugs and long term outcomes in IBD. Investigating these effects will provide invaluable information to inform future prospective investigations as well as inform patients and clinicians of the potential effects these drugs in modifying the disease course of inflammatory bowel disease.
REC name
West Midlands - Solihull Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/WM/0126
Date of REC Opinion
11 Apr 2014
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion