Chronic Conditions and Their Age of Onset Predict Health Trajectory in IBD
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
MONDAY, March 24, 2025 -- Among people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), conditions developed at or before age 60 years and their age of onset are important for predicting premature death, according to a study published online March 24 in CMAJ, the journal of the Canadian Medical Association.
Gemma Postill, from the University of Toronto, and colleagues examined premature death (age younger than 75 years) among people with IBD and identified patterns between multimorbidity and premature death among decedents with IBD using administrative health data for people with IBD who died between 2010 and 2020. Statistical and machine learning models were developed to predict premature death from the presence of 17 chronic conditions and patient age at diagnosis.
The researchers found that all models showed strong performance, with areas under the receiver operating curve (AUC) ranging from 0.81 to 0.95. The model that incorporated age at diagnosis for each chronic condition developed at or before 60 years was the best performing (AUC, 0.95). Young ages of diagnosis for mood disorder, other mental health disorders, osteoarthritis and other arthritis types, and hypertension, as well as male sex, were salient features for predicting premature death.
"Among decedents with IBD, machine learning models can accurately predict premature death associated with non-IBD comorbidities, with stronger performance for models trained on early-life conditions (age ≤60 years), suggesting these may be more important in determining one's health trajectory," the authors write.
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted March 2025
Read this next
Gastrointestinal Disease Tied to High Physical, Financial Burden
FRIDAY, April 18, 2025 -- Gastrointestinal (GI) diseases are responsible for a considerable and growing burden of health care use and costs within the United States, according to...
IBD Activity May Increase Risk for Clostridioides Difficile Infection
WEDNESDAY, March 5, 2025 -- For patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), risk factors associated with Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) include recent diagnosis...
More Than Two-Thirds of U.S. Counties Do Not Have a Gastroenterologist
FRIDAY, Feb. 21, 2025 -- About 69 percent of U.S. counties do not have a gastroenterologist, according to a research letter published online Feb. 6 in Gastroenterology. Xiaohan...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.