Abstract
BACKGROUND: Cross-sectional evidence suggests a higher burden of chronic respiratory diseases in people with inflammatory bowel disease, but there is a lack of prospective evidence to clarify the direction of their associations.</p>
AIM: To investigate the association of inflammatory bowel disease with the risk of two major chronic respiratory diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma.</p>
METHODS: We included 430,414 participants from UK Biobank and followed them from recruitment (2006-2010) to 2021. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma cases were obtained from inpatient data and death register. Using Cox proportional hazards models, we estimated the multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (HR) of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma in participants with inflammatory bowel disease compared with inflammatory bowel disease-free groups. We also investigated the association among Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis with the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma.</p>
RESULTS: Over a median follow-up of 11.9 years, there were 11,196 incident chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and 9831 asthma cases. The adjusted HRs of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (HR=1.54, 95% CI: 1.33-1.79) and asthma (HR=1.52, 95% CI: 1.29-1.79) were higher for those with inflammatory bowel disease when compared with inflammatory bowel disease-free participants. Participants with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis were also found to have a higher risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (Crohn's disease: HR=1.71; 95% CI: 1.36-2.15; ulcerative colitis: HR=1.45; 95% CI: 1.20-1.75) and asthma (Crohn's disease: HR=1.73; 95%CI: 1.33-2.25; ulcerative colitis: HR=1.41; 95%CI: 1.15-1.73) when compared with those free of inflammatory bowel disease.</p>
CONCLUSIONS: This study suggested that individuals with inflammatory bowel disease have a higher risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma, highlighting the importance of preventing chronic respiratory diseases among inflammatory bowel disease patients.</p>