Thaer Khaleel Swaid, Layth Raafat Hamzeh, Laurette L Bukasa, Tine Jess, Mohammed Nabil Quraishi
{"title":"Rapid diagnosis and therapeutic mitigation in inflammatory bowel disease: utilizing the window of opportunity-findings from the UAE Epi-IBD study.","authors":"Thaer Khaleel Swaid, Layth Raafat Hamzeh, Laurette L Bukasa, Tine Jess, Mohammed Nabil Quraishi","doi":"10.5217/ir.2026.00032","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background/aims: </strong>To determine time to diagnosis (TTD) and its impact on surgery and advanced therapy (AT) burden in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in a multi-ethnic United Arab Emirates (UAE) cohort, a region in the acceleration phase of IBD incidence.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Retrospective analysis of the UAE Epi-IBD registry. TTD was calculated from patient-reported symptom onset to diagnosis. Logistic, Poisson regression and Cox proportional hazards models were used. Sensitivity analyses using 6- and 18-month thresholds and TTD quartiles were performed.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Among 243 patients (148 Crohn's disease [CD], 95 ulcerative colitis [UC]), median TTD was 4.0 months (interquartile range [IQR], 1.5-9.0 months) for CD and 3.0 months (IQR, 1.0-7.0 months) for UC (P= 0.111, Wilcoxon; log-rank P= 0.054), shorter than pooled estimates from high-income countries. UC TTD accelerated significantly post-2021 (2.0 months vs. 5.5 months; P= 0.006), while CD remained stable (P= 0.646). Diagnostic speed was identical between tertiary and non-tertiary settings (P= 0.943). Diagnostic delay did not predict AT exposure (P= 0.986) or surgical risk (P= 0.586); instead, penetrating CD phenotype drove therapy burden (P= 0.019). Time to first AT was rapid (median 4.5 months for CD, 14.0 months for UC). Era-stratified analysis showed a trend toward higher AT use in 2021 to 2025 (incidence rate ratio, 1.36; 95% CI, 0.98-1.89; P= 0.071), consistent with expanding therapeutic availability, though null association between delay and outcomes persisted after adjustment.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>TTD in this cohort is shorter than global benchmarks and comparable to recent Asian data. Diagnostic delay did not predict adverse outcomes, though limited surgical events and short follow-up preclude definitive conclusions. Multiple factors beyond healthcare system architecture may contribute, and larger multicenter studies are needed.</p>","PeriodicalId":14481,"journal":{"name":"Intestinal Research","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7000,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Intestinal Research","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.5217/ir.2026.00032","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"GASTROENTEROLOGY & HEPATOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background/aims: To determine time to diagnosis (TTD) and its impact on surgery and advanced therapy (AT) burden in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in a multi-ethnic United Arab Emirates (UAE) cohort, a region in the acceleration phase of IBD incidence.
Methods: Retrospective analysis of the UAE Epi-IBD registry. TTD was calculated from patient-reported symptom onset to diagnosis. Logistic, Poisson regression and Cox proportional hazards models were used. Sensitivity analyses using 6- and 18-month thresholds and TTD quartiles were performed.
Results: Among 243 patients (148 Crohn's disease [CD], 95 ulcerative colitis [UC]), median TTD was 4.0 months (interquartile range [IQR], 1.5-9.0 months) for CD and 3.0 months (IQR, 1.0-7.0 months) for UC (P= 0.111, Wilcoxon; log-rank P= 0.054), shorter than pooled estimates from high-income countries. UC TTD accelerated significantly post-2021 (2.0 months vs. 5.5 months; P= 0.006), while CD remained stable (P= 0.646). Diagnostic speed was identical between tertiary and non-tertiary settings (P= 0.943). Diagnostic delay did not predict AT exposure (P= 0.986) or surgical risk (P= 0.586); instead, penetrating CD phenotype drove therapy burden (P= 0.019). Time to first AT was rapid (median 4.5 months for CD, 14.0 months for UC). Era-stratified analysis showed a trend toward higher AT use in 2021 to 2025 (incidence rate ratio, 1.36; 95% CI, 0.98-1.89; P= 0.071), consistent with expanding therapeutic availability, though null association between delay and outcomes persisted after adjustment.
Conclusions: TTD in this cohort is shorter than global benchmarks and comparable to recent Asian data. Diagnostic delay did not predict adverse outcomes, though limited surgical events and short follow-up preclude definitive conclusions. Multiple factors beyond healthcare system architecture may contribute, and larger multicenter studies are needed.
期刊介绍:
Intestinal Research (Intest Res) is the joint official publication of the Asian Organization for Crohn''s and Colitis (AOCC), Chinese Society of IBD (CSIBD), Japanese Society for IBD (JSIBD), Korean Association for the Study of Intestinal Diseases (KASID), Taiwan Society of IBD (TSIBD) and Colitis Crohn''s Foundation (India) (CCF, india). The aim of the Journal is to provide broad and in-depth analysis of intestinal diseases, especially inflammatory bowel disease, which shows increasing tendency and significance. As a Journal specialized in clinical and translational research in gastroenterology, it encompasses multiple aspects of diseases originated from the small and large intestines. The Journal also seeks to propagate and exchange useful innovations, both in ideas and in practice, within the research community. As a mode of scholarly communication, it encourages scientific investigation through the rigorous peer-review system and constitutes a qualified and continual platform for sharing studies of researchers and practitioners. Specifically, the Journal presents up-to-date coverage of medical researches on the physiology, epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical presentations, and therapeutic interventions of the intestinal diseases. General topics of interest include inflammatory bowel disease, colon and small intestine cancer or polyp, endoscopy, irritable bowel syndrome and other motility disorders, infectious enterocolitis, intestinal tuberculosis, and so forth. The Journal publishes diverse types of academic materials such as editorials, clinical and basic reviews, original articles, case reports, letters to the editor, brief communications, perspective, statement or commentary, and images that are useful to clinicians and researchers.