A shift from oral to intravenous iron supplementation therapy is observed over time in a large swiss cohort of patients with inflammatory bowel disease

Vavricka, Stephan R.; Schoepfer, Alain M.; Safroneeva, Ekaterina; Rogler, Gerhard; Schwenkglenks, Matthias; Achermann, Rita (2013). A shift from oral to intravenous iron supplementation therapy is observed over time in a large swiss cohort of patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Inflammatory bowel diseases, 19(4), pp. 840-846. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 10.1097/MIB.0b013e31827febbb

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BACKGROUND

In 2007, leading international experts in the field of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) recommended intravenous (IV) iron supplements over oral (PO) ones because of superior effectiveness and better tolerance. We aimed to determine the percentage of patients with IBD undergoing iron therapy and to assess the dynamics of iron prescription habits (IV versus PO).

METHODS

We analyzed anonymized data on patients with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis extracted from the Helsana database. Helsana is a Swiss health insurance company providing coverage for 18% of the Swiss population (1.2 million individuals).

RESULTS

In total, 629 patients with Crohn's disease (61% female) and 398 patients with ulcerative colitis (57% female) were identified; mean observation time was 31.8 months for Crohn's disease and 31.0 months for ulcerative colitis patients. Of all patients with IBD, 27.1% were prescribed iron (21.1% in males; 31.1% in females). Patients treated with steroids, immunomodulators, and/or anti-tumor necrosis factor drugs were more frequently treated with iron supplements when compared with those not treated with any medications (35.0% versus 20.9%, odds ratio, 1.94; P < 0.001). The frequency of IV iron prescriptions increased significantly from 2006 to 2009 for both genders (males: from 2.6% to 10.1%, odds ratio = 3.84, P < 0.001; females: from 5.3% to 12.1%, odds ratio = 2.26, P = 0.002), whereas the percentage of PO iron prescriptions did not change.

CONCLUSIONS

Twenty-seven percent of patients with IBD were treated with iron supplements. Iron supplements administered IV were prescribed more frequently over time. These prescription habits are consistent with the implementation of guidelines on the management of iron deficiency in IBD.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

04 Faculty of Medicine > Pre-clinic Human Medicine > Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM)

UniBE Contributor:

Safroneeva, Ekaterina

Subjects:

600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health
300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology > 360 Social problems & social services

ISSN:

1078-0998

Publisher:

Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

Language:

English

Submitter:

Doris Kopp Heim

Date Deposited:

12 Feb 2014 15:38

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 14:27

Publisher DOI:

10.1097/MIB.0b013e31827febbb

PubMed ID:

23429462

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.40725

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/40725

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