Two-year delay in ulcerative colitis diagnosis is associated with anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha use

Table 3 Comparisons of clinical characteristics between the early and delay groups according to the 24-mo diagnostic interval for patients with ulcerative colitis

		Total	Early group (< 24 mo)	Delay group (≥ 24 mo)	P value
Sex (%)					0.872
	Male	318 (57.7)	293 (57.6)	25 (59.5)
	Female	233 (42.3)	216 (42.4)	17 (40.5)
Age (%)		40.56 ± 16.11	40.93 ± 16.20	41.21 ± 14.47	0.903
					0.020
	≥ 60 yr	80 (14.5)	79 (15.5)	1 (2.4)
	< 60 yr	471 (85.5)	430 (84.5)	41 (97.6)
BMI (%)					0.306
	< 25 kg/m2	295 (83.3)	268 (82.7)	27 (90.0)
	≥ 25 kg/m2	59 (16.7)	56 (17.3)	3 (10.0)
Education (%)					0.561
	< University	170 (56.5)	152 (55.9)	18 (62.1)
	≥ University	131 (43.5)	120 (44.1)	11 (37.9)
Residence at diagnosis (%)					0.498
	Rural	503 (94.2)	466 (94.3)	37 (92.5)
	Urban	31 (5.8)	28 (5.7)	3 (7.5)
Family history of IBD (%)					0.782
	No	318 (86.2)	291 (85.8)	27 (90.0)
	Yes	51 (13.8)	48 (14.2)	3 (10.0)
Smoking (%)					0.008
	No	366 (82.6)	339 (84.1)	27 (67.5)
	Yes	77 (17.4)	64 (15.9)	13 (32.5)
First symptom (%)
					0.540
Hematochezia	No	160 (29.2)	146 (28.9)	14 (33.3)
	Yes	388 (70.8)	360 (71.1)	28 (66.7)
					0.229
Chronic diarrhea	No	384 (70.1)	358 (70.8)	26 (61.9)
	Yes	164 (29.9)	148 (29.2)	16 (38.1)
Diagnosis before UC
					0.000
Hemorrhoids (%)	No	487 (94.7)	453 (95.8)	34 (82.9)
	Yes	27 (5.3)	20 (4.2)	7 (17.1)
					0.066
IBS (%)	No	494 (96.1)	457 (96.6)	37 (90.2)
	Yes	20 (3.9)	16 (3.4)	4 (9.8)
Mayo score at diagnosis (%)					0.958
	Mild	179 (44.9)	163 (44.9)	16 (44.4)
	Moderate + Severe	220 (55.1)	200 (55.1)	20 (55.6)
Disease extent at diagnosis (%)					0.914
	Proctitis + left side	413 (75.5))	381 (75.4)	32 (76.2)
	Extensive	134 (24.5)	124 (24.6)	10 (23.8)

BMI: Body mass index; IBD: Inflammatory bowel disease; UC: Ulcerative colitis; IBS: Irritable bowel syndrome.