Potential missed diagnoses of Crohn's disease in tertiary care: impact on drug utilization and healthcare facilities use.
Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol
; 35(11): 1263-1269, 2023 11 01.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37724478
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
A missed diagnosis of Crohn's disease (CD) can delay treatment initiation with consequences on disease course.AIMS:
To measure the possible impact of missed diagnoses on drug utilization and access to healthcare facilities in a real-world cohort of CD patients.METHODS:
This retrospective observational study has been conducted on the regional administrative databases of Tuscany (Italy). We included patients with a first record of CD diagnosis between 06/11/2011 and 06/30/2016. Possible missed diagnosis (exposure) was defined by hospital presentation for gastrointestinal symptoms consistent with CD diagnosis that occurred in the 7-60 months preceding CD diagnosis. We compared exposed and non-exposed patients by assessing time-free from biologic drugs and from Emergency Department (ED) or hospital access. Hazard ratio (HR) was calculated using Cox models.RESULTS:
Among 3342 CD patients, 584 (17.5%) had a possible missed diagnosis. A risk of being treated with biologic drugs [adjusted HR (aHR) 2.17, 95% CI 1.75-2.71] and of access to ED or hospitalization (aHR 1.59, 95% CI 1.44-1.75) was observed in patients with a possible missed diagnosis as compared to those without.CONCLUSION:
Tertiary care caregivers should be trained in the identification of early CD symptoms, to timely identify CD diagnosis and optimize pharmacological treatment and disease management.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Biological Products
/
Crohn Disease
Type of study:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Observational_studies
Aspects:
Implementation_research
Limits:
Humans
Language:
En
Journal:
Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol
Journal subject:
GASTROENTEROLOGIA
Year:
2023
Document type:
Article