The 2023 Impact of Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Canada: Direct Health System and Medication Costs.

Healthcare utilization among people living with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in Canada has shifted from inpatient management to outpatient management; fewer people with IBD are admitted to hospitals or undergo surgery, but outpatient visits have become more frequent. Although the frequency of emergency department (ED) visits among adults and seniors with IBD decreased, the frequency of ED visits among children with IBD increased. Additionally, there is variation in the utilization of IBD health services within and between provinces and across ethnocultural and sociodemographic groups. For example, First Nations individuals with IBD are more likely to be hospitalized than the general IBD population. South Asian children with Crohn's disease are hospitalized more often than their Caucasian peers at diagnosis, but not during follow-up. Immigrants to Canada who develop IBD have higher health services utilization, but a lower risk of surgery compared to individuals born in Canada. The total direct healthcare costs of IBD, including the cost of hospitalizations, ED visits, outpatient visits, endoscopy, cross-sectional imaging, and medications are rising rapidly. The direct health system and medication costs of IBD in Canada are estimated to be $3.33 billion in 2023, potentially ranging from $2.19 billion to $4.47 billion. This is an increase from an estimated $1.28 billion in 2018, likely due to sharp increases in the use of biologic therapy over the past two decades. In 2017, 50% of total direct healthcare costs can be attributed to biologic therapies; the proportion of total direct healthcare costs attributed to biologic therapies today is likely even greater.

The 2023 Impact of Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Canada: Indirect (Individual and Societal) and Direct Out-of-Pocket Costs.

People living with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and their caregivers are faced with indirect and out-of-pocket costs that they would not otherwise experience. These costs impact one's ability to contribute to the economy to their fullest potential. The indirect costs of IBD in Canada are estimated to be at least $1.51 billion in 2023 and include costs associated with lost productivity resulting from a combination of missed work (absenteeism), decreased workplace productivity (presenteeism), unemployment, premature mortality, and caregiving costs. Unemployment is the largest contributor to indirect costs ($1.14 billion), followed by costs of absenteeism and presenteeism ($285 million). Caregiving costs for children with IBD are estimated to be nearly $58 million. Canadians with IBD also pay $536 million every year for care that is not covered by universal or supplemental private health insurance; this includes allied healthcare (e.g., care provided by psychologists), medication, and other supportive therapy. Combined, the indirect and out-of-pocket costs of IBD in Canada are estimated at more than $2 billion CAD in 2023. This is substantially higher than the estimate of $1.29 billion in Crohn's and Colitis Canada's 2018 Impact of IBD report with differences attributable to a combination of rising prevalence, inflation, and the addition of presenteeism and caregiving costs to the total indirect costs.

The 2023 Impact of Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Canada: Treatment Landscape.

The therapeutic landscape for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has changed considerably over the past two decades, owing to the development and widespread penetration of targeted therapies, including biologics and small molecules. While some conventional treatments continue to have an important role in the management of IBD, treatment of IBD is increasingly moving towards targeted therapies given their greater efficacy and safety in comparison to conventional agents. Early introduction of these therapies-particularly in persons with Crohn's disease-combining targeted therapies with traditional anti-metabolite immunomodulators and targeting objective markers of disease activity (in addition to symptoms), have been shown to improve health outcomes and will be increasingly adopted over time. The substantially increased costs associated with targeted therapies has led to a ballooning of healthcare expenditure to treat IBD over the past 15 years. The introduction of less expensive biosimilar anti-tumour necrosis factor therapies may bend this cost curve downwards, potentially allowing for more widespread access to these medications. Newer therapies targeting different inflammatory pathways and complementary and alternative therapies (including novel diets) will continue to shape the IBD treatment landscape. More precise use of a growing number of targeted therapies in the right individuals at the right time will help minimize the development of expensive and disabling complications, which has the potential to further reduce costs and improve outcomes.

Nintedanib regulates intestinal smooth muscle hyperplasia and phenotype in vitro and in TNBS colitis in vivo.

Chronic inflammation of the human intestine in Crohn's disease (CD) causes bowel wall thickening, which typically progresses to stricturing and a recurrent need for surgery. Current therapies have limited success and CD remains idiopathic and incurable. Recent evidence shows a key role of intestinal smooth muscle cell (ISMC) hyperplasia in stricturing, which is not targeted by current anti-inflammatory therapeutics. However, progression of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, resembling CD in pathophysiology, is controlled by the tyrosine kinase inhibitors nintedanib (NIN) or pirfenidone, and we investigated these drugs for their effect on ISMC. In a culture model of rat ISMC, NIN inhibited serum- and PDGF-BB-stimulated growth and cell migration, and promoted the differentiated phenotype, while increasing secreted collagen. NIN did not affect signaling through PDGF-Rß or NFκB but did inhibit cytokine-induced expression of the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1ß and TNFα, supporting a transcriptional level of control. In TNBS-induced colitis in mice, which resembles CD, NIN decreased ISMC hyperplasia as well as expression of TNFα and IL-1ß, without effect in control animals. NIN also inhibited growth of human ISMC in response to human serum or PDGF-BB, which further establishes a broad range of actions of NIN that support further trial in human IBD.

Predicting Health-Related Quality of Life Outcomes Following Major Scoliosis Surgery in Adolescents: A Latent Class Growth Analysis.

STUDY DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. OBJECTIVES: To identify patient trajectories of recovery defined by change in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) following surgery for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). To explore possible predictors of trajectory membership. METHODS: Adolescent patients scheduled to undergo spinal fusion for AIS were enrolled in the Post-Operative Recovery following Spinal Correction: Home Experience (PORSCHE) study. Responses to the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory-version 4 (PedsQL-4.0) were collected prior to surgery and 4 to 6 weeks, 3, 6, and 12 months post-operatively. Latent class growth analyses identified patient subgroups based on their unique trajectories of physical health (PH) and psychosocial health (PSH) outcomes using the PedsQL-4.0 subscale scores. Predictors included demographic, clinical, and psychosocial factors. RESULTS: Data from up to 190 patients were included (87.4% female; mean±SD age = 14.6 ± 1.9 years). Three trajectory subgroups were identified for PH and 4 trajectories were found for PSH, with a majority of patients scoring within the established range of healthy adolescents 12 months post-surgery. Increased child and parent pain catastrophizing, child trait anxiety and previous hospitalizations were associated with poorer PH outcomes, whereas increased child and parent pain catastrophizing, child state and trait anxiety, and parent state and trait anxiety were associated with poorer PSH trajectories. CONCLUSIONS: The PH and PSH trajectories identified in this study and the factors associated with their membership may inform surgical decision-making for AIS while facilitating patient and family counselling regarding peri-operative recovery and expectations.

Assessing hip abduction and adduction strength: can greater segmental fixation enhance the reproducibility?

OBJECTIVE: To improve the reproducibility of testing hip abduction and adduction using an isokinetic dynamometer by a novel testing protocol. DESIGN: Test-retest design. SETTING: Biodynamics laboratory. PARTICIPANTS: Fifteen healthy subjects (9 men, 6 women; age, 22.4+/-0.5 y) were recruited. INTERVENTIONS: Two setups were compared: the first according to manufacturer's guidelines (setup A) and the second a novel setup incorporating pelvic fixation (setup B). Setups A and B were performed in a random order. Both setups included the same battery of isokinetic (30 degrees/s, 60 degrees/s) and isometric tests, and were repeated 1 week later. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The peak torque for each abduction and adduction exercise was noted and pelvic motion during testing was recorded. RESULTS: Setup B significantly (P<.05) reduced transverse pelvic rotation by between 7.5 degrees and 8.0 degrees dependent on test speed. Mean differences for reproducibility of peak torque, ranged from 0.8 to 11.7 Nm. The coefficients of repeatability of both setups were similar, ranging from 21.4 to 56.3 Nm across isokinetic exercises. A similar observation was noted for isometric exercises, with the differences between the coefficients of repeatability ranging from 18.6 to 40.0 Nm. CONCLUSIONS: Reducing pelvic rotation does not enhance reproducibility of the system and is not related to torque production. Further research is required to determine the optimal test setup.