Impact of early aggressive treatment on long-term biochemical marker patterns in inflammatory bowel disease

Table 4 Clinical characteristics, univariate analysis, and multinomial logistic regression analysis based on different longitudinal trajectories of fecal calprotectin levels in patients with ulcerative colitis

	Total patients	Univariate analyses				Multinomial logistic regression analysis
		Class 1	Class 2	Class 3	p-value^a	OR (95% CI)		p-value^a
		Class 1	Class 2	Class 3	p-value^a	Class 2^b	Class 3^b	p-value^a
Number	536	243 (45.3)	42 (7.8)	251 (46.8)
Female	198 (36.9)	94 (38.7)	19 (45.2)	85 (33.9)	0.276
Age at diagnosis, years	38.7 (14.2)	41.0 (12.8)	35.7 (16.2)	37.0 (15.3)	0.003	0.969 (0.944–0.995)	0.980 (0.966–0.994)	0.004
Current smoker	84 (15.7)	48 (19.8)	2 (4.8)	34 (13.5)	0.021	0.194 (0.044–0.846)	0.559 (0.330–0.945)	0.008
History of appendectomy^c	15 (2.8)	10 (4.1)	0 (0)	5 (2.0)	0.187		0.420 (0.133–1.325)	0.091
CCI
0	443 (82.6)	202 (83.1)	37 (88.1)	204 (81.3)	0.837
1	64 (11.9)	29 (11.9)	3 (7.1)	32 (12.7)
≥ 2	29 (5.4)	12 (4.9)	2 (4.8)	15 (6.0)
Positive ANCA titer	51 (9.5)	19 (7.8)	4 (9.5)	28 (11.2)	0.506
Elevation of ASCA IgG or IgA	86 (16.0)	31 (14.0)	8 (20.5)	47 (20.8)	0.154	1.220 (0.501–2.972)	1.384 (0.824–2.325)	0.500
Disease extent
Proctitis	210 (39.2)	102 (42.0)	19 (45.2)	89 (35.5)	0.277
Left-sided colitis	151 (28.2)	69 (28.4)	13 (31.0)	69 (27.5)
Extensive colitis	175 (32.6)	72 (29.6)	10 (23.8)	93 (37.1)
Early CS	165 (30.8)	61 (25.1)	15 (35.7)	89 (35.5)	0.034	1.032 (0.470–2.267)	1.030 (0.662–1.604)	> 0.999
Early IM	36 (14.8)	36 (14.8)	15 (35.7)	80 (31.9)	< 0.001	2.928 (1.289–6.651)	2.698 (1.657–4.394)	< 0.001
Early AT	11 (2.1)	3 (1.2)	1 (2.4)	7 (2.8)	0.470
Early ER visit	35 (6.5)	14 (5.8)	3 (7.1)	18 (7.2)	0.806
Early hospitalization	29 (5.4)	10 (4.1)	2 (4.8)	17 (6.8)	0.419

CCI, Charlson comorbidity index; ANCA, anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody; ASCA, anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae antibody; CS, corticosteroid, IM, immunomodulator; AT, advanced therapy; ER, emergency room
Values are presented as the mean (standard deviation) or number (%)
^a p-value is indicated in bold when < 0.200 in univariate analyses and when < 0.050 in multinomial logistic regression analysis
^b All groups were compared with class 1
^c Classes 1 and 2 could not be compared because no patients in class 2 had a history of appendectomy