S852 Change in Urgency among Crohn’s Disease Patients: Analyses from the SPARC IBD

Introduction: The objective of this study was to assess the changes in prevalence and severity of fecal urgency in Crohn’s Disease (CD) patients at 6-months from their enrollment visit. Methods: Data from the Study of a Prospective Adult Research Cohort with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (SPARC IBD) were analyzed. CD patients that had an enrollment visit and 6-month visit were included in these analyses. Fecal urgency at each visit was assessed on a scale ranging from 0 (none) to 4 (severe). The change in urgency status from enrollment visit to 6-months is categorized as Improvement (decrease of 1-3 points), No Change, or Worsening (increase of 1-3 points). Descriptive statistics and contingency tables were created to summarize baseline characteristics by fecal urgency group. Chi-square tests and ANOVA were conducted to compare the distribution of baseline characteristics between change in urgency groups, with Bonferroni corrections used for multiple comparisons. Results: Data from 554 CD patients were included in this analysis. 22.9% of CD patients had an improvement in urgency, 51.8% had no change, and 25.3% had a worsening in urgency at 6-months from their enrollment visit. When compared to patients that had no change in urgency at 6-months, CD patients that had an improvement in urgency were more likely to be female (p=0.0125), have more frequent liquids stools (p=0.0197), moderate/severe fecal urgency (p< 0.0001), worse general well-being (p=0.0015), moderate/severe Physician Global Assessment (PGA) (p=0.0190), and more night-time bowel movements (p=0.0297) at enrollment (Table 1). When compared to patients with worsening urgency at 6-months, CD patients that had an improvement in urgency at 6-months, were more likely to have liquid stool consistency (p=0.0273), moderate/severe fecal urgency (p< 0.0001), and more night-time bowel movements (p< 0.0001) at enrollment. CD patients that had a worsening in urgency were more likely to have no urgency at enrollment than patients that had no change in urgency at 6-months (p=0.0374). Conclusion: Fecal urgency is a common symptom among CD patients. Fecal urgency is not a stable symptom, with nearly 50% experiencing either worsening or improvement over 6-months. Worse disease activity at enrollment in the cohort was associated with improved fecal urgency symptoms over 6-months.Table 1.: Demographics and Clinical Characteristics at enrollment of Crohn’s Disease Patients by Change in Urgency at 6-months.