The Risk of Elective Abortion in Women With Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis: A Nationwide Cohort Study

Impact of inflammatory bowel disease on women's reproductive life: a questionnaire-based study

Background

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) have a peak incidence between the second and fourth decades of life and can affect women's reproductive life.

Objectives

Our study aimed to assess the impact of IBD on the reproductive life of female patients with this condition.

Design

Cross-sectional study.

Methods

Women with IBD followed at our IBD Unit and a group of healthy controls were enrolled. Data on reproductive life were collected using a dedicated questionnaire.

Results

The study included 457 women, of whom 228 had IBD, and 229 age-matched healthy controls. No differences were found in the use of contraceptives, infertility, and endometriosis. The risk of spontaneous and voluntary abortions was significantly higher in IBD patients than in healthy controls [odds ratio (OR) 2 and 3.62, respectively]. The risk of obstetrical complications in the IBD population was more than six times higher in patients who experienced disease reactivations during pregnancy than in those with persistent remission [OR 6.9, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.51-31.28]. Finally, we found that the chances of breastfeeding were 66% lower in patients with IBD than in controls (OR 0.44, 95% CI 0.22-0.91).

Conclusion

Our study underlines the negative impact of IBD on women's reproductive life, supporting the need for proactive preconception counseling.

Post-neonatal Outcomes of Infants Born to Women with Active Trimester One Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Pilot Study

BACKGROUND

Ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD) are chronic inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) that affect women in their childbearing years. Early pregnancy flare-up negatively impacts obstetrical and perinatal outcomes, but the impact on infants is unclear.

AIM

To determine whether active IBD disease activity is associated with adverse post-neonatal outcomes post-partum.

METHODS

This is a single-center cohort study of women with IBD who underwent serial monitoring of post-neonatal outcomes post-partum. Infant outcomes were collected via self-filled questionnaires, including perinatal outcomes, APGAR scores, infant weights, heights, feeding habits and comorbidities within the first year of life.

RESULTS

There was a total of 98 women with IBD and 78 live births throughout the study: 50 women were enrolled during trimester one alone and 49 were included into the current study. Among the 49 analyzed, 32 were in remission and 17 were in relapse during trimester one. Trimester one disease activity was associated with more adverse obstetrical outcomes including emergency C-sections and reduced 1-min APGAR scores. At follow-up, infants born to women with T1-flare had reduced weight-for-age Z scores and length-for-age Z scores up to 6 months of age.

CONCLUSIONS

Active IBD during trimester one is correlated with adverse post-neonatal outcomes, particularly decreased infant weight and height up to 6 months of age. This suggests disease control in first trimester is essential for optimizing infant growth and post-neonatal outcomes.

Confounding and bias in observational studies in inflammatory bowel disease: a meta-epidemiological study

BACKGROUND

Observational research concerning inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is highly susceptible to spurious findings because of confounding and bias.

AIM

To investigate how these issues were reported in this research field.

METHODS

We identified and appraised a random sample of 160 observational studies concerning IBD published in high-impact gastroenterology journals and the most respected specialty journals of the condition. We applied a standardised methodology to assess how confounding and bias were reported and discussed, and investigated the association between yearly citations and study characteristics using mixed-effect multivariable regression analysis.

RESULTS

The authors of 67 out of 160 articles (41.9%) mentioned confounding, and in 89 cases (55.6%) reported any bias. Although most authors applied strategies to minimise confounding or bias (n = 139; 86.9%) and acknowledged at least one unadjusted confounder (n = 116; 72.5%), a minority commented about whether the main findings could have been affected (n = 60; 37.5%). Very few authors (n = 7; 4.4%) called for caution in interpreting the results in the discussion. Reporting of confounding and bias was particularly lacking for case-control studies, those not using routinely collected data, those employing laboratory analyses as the primary method of assessment and studies investigating non-modifiable exposures. In adjusted analyses, mentioning or alluding to confounding was positively associated with yearly citations (P = 0.010), whereas calling for a cautious interpretation of the findings was not.

CONCLUSIONS

Reporting of confounding is inadequate and its acknowledgement is often neglected in interpreting high-impact observational research in IBD. These results encourage a more careful evaluation of the consequences of confounding and bias.

Comparison of Time to Pregnancy in Women With and Without Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

BACKGROUND & AIMS

Patients are often diagnosed with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) during their peak reproductive years. We investigated how IBD affects fertility in a population study of women in Denmark.

METHODS

We collected data from the Danish National Birth Cohort, a nationwide study of 92,274 pregnant women recruited from 1996 through 2002. Women who had been actively trying to conceive reported their time to pregnancy through a computer-assisted telephone interview at approximately 16 weeks of gestation. Information regarding IBD was retrieved from the Danish National Patient Register. Using regression models and adjusting for important confounders, we compared time to pregnancy in women with and without IBD.

RESULTS

We calculated time to pregnancy for 74,471 pregnancies in women without IBD, 340 pregnancies in women with ulcerative colitis (UC), and 206 pregnancies in women with Crohn's disease (CD). Compared to non-IBD pregnancies, the adjusted relative risk ratios for time to pregnancy of more than 12 months in women with IBD, UC, and CD were 1.28 (95% CI, 0.99-1.65), 1.10 (95% CI, 0.80-1.51), and 1.54 (95% CI, 1.03-2.30), respectively. The adjusted relative risk ratio was 2.54 (95% CI, 1.39-4.65) for a time to pregnancy of more than 12 months in women who had CD surgery prior to conception vs non-IBD pregnancies. There were too few patients with UC with surgery prior to conception to perform meaningful analyses of this group.

CONCLUSIONS

In a study of women with IBD not confounded by voluntary childlessness, we found that women with CD, especially those who have undergone surgery, have a significant increase in time to pregnancy compared to women without IBD. This indicates reduced fertility in subgroups of women with IBD.

Sexual health and fertility for individuals with inflammatory bowel disease

The impact of a chronic disease such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) on sexual functioning and body image can significantly impair the quality of life of patients. This review considers the sexual and fertility aspects of IBD patients and their daily management. Modern IBD healthcare management should include appropriate communication on sexuality and consider psychological, physiological, and biological issues. Patients with IBD have less children than the general population, and voluntary childlessness is frequent. The most influential factors reported by IBD patients who experience fertility alteration are psychological and surgery-related problems. Pregnancy is a major concern for patients, and any pregnancy for IBD patients should be closely followed-up to keep the chronic disease in a quiescent state. Preconceptional consultation is of great help.