Time of infliximab therapy initiation and dose escalation in Crohn’s disease

Table 1 Baseline clinical characteristics of cohort n (%)

Variable	All patients (n = 68)
Male	33 (49)
Age at diagnosis1 (yr)	18 (27)
< 17	43 (64)
17-40	6 (9)
> 40
Age at diagnosisa (yr)	24.7 ± 11.9
Past and current smoking2	17 (25)
Age at first infliximab infusion (yr)	34.8 ± 14.8
Disease behavior3	29 (44)
Non-stricturing, non-penetrating	12 (18)
Stricturing	12 (18)
Penetrating	13 (20)
Penetrating (perianal)
Years between diagnosis and therapy initiation1	7.0 (2.0-14.5)
Years between diagnosis and therapy initiation1	13 (19)
< 2 yr	54 (81)
≥ 2 yr
Concurrent immunosuppressant therapy1	34 (51)
Concurrent prednisone therapy3	8 (12)
< 20 mg/d	10 (15)
≥ 20 mg/d
Dose escalation	34 (50)
Mean time to dose escalation (mo)	10.0 (5.3-4.8)

Continuous data are reported as mean ± SD, or median and IQR when not normally distributed.

¹Data for one patient are missing;

²Data for two patients are missing;

³Data unknown for 12 patients. Past smokers defined as those who had quit smoking at least 6 mo prior to first infliximab dose or those who smoked < 5 cigarettes/d. Current smokers defined as those who smoke at least 5 cigarettes/d for at least 6 mo prior to the first dose of infliximab.

Table 2 Univariate and multivariate analysis of clinical variables on infliximab

Variable	n	Requiring dose escalation within 12 mo	Fisher’s exact test P value	Log-rank test P value
Sex			0.58	0.91
Male	24	41.7%
Female	30	33.3%
Age at diagnosis			1.00	0.72
< 17 yr	11	36.4%
17-40 yr	36	36.1%
> 40 yr	6	33.3%
Disease behavior			0.91	1.00
Non-stricturing, non-penetrating	24	37.5%
Stricturing	9	44.4%
Penetrating	9	33.3%
Penetrating (perianal)	11	27.3%
Years between diagnosis and therapy initiation			0.31	0.11
< 2 yr	12	50.0%
≥ 2 yr	41	31.7%
Concurrent immunosuppressant therapy			0.16	0.09
No	27	48.1%
Yes	26	26.9%

Table 3 Patients requiring dose escalation within 12 mo of therapy initiation

Years between diagnosis and therapy initiation	< 2 yr		≥ 2 yr
On concurrent immunosuppressant therapy	No	Yes	No	Yes
Proportion of subjects needed dose escalation within 12 mo	4/5 = 0.80	2/7 = 0.29	8/21 = 0.38	5/19 = 0.26