New ways to assess the risk of side effects in older patients

A2002013

There are growing numbers of older Inflammatory Bowel Disease patients (around 25% of all IBD patients are over the age of 65). A lot of existing IBD medications are known to be high risk in older patients, but it's likely that chronological age is not the best way of identifying patients at high risk of serious side effects from medications. Instead, frailty is thought to be a better marker of those patients who are vulnerable to adverse health outcomes. Unfortunately, there is some overlap with signs and symptoms of frailty and IBD which makes it difficult to accurately assess risk.

This project aim to develop an IBD-specific frailty assessment tool, with the goal that this tool will help to identify those patients who are 'fit' for advanced IBD therapy (or low risk) and those who are higher risk. This will enable more informed discussions with patients to personalise their care and increase quality of life by offering more advanced therapies to those who may have previously been unnecessarily ruled out and offering enhanced care for those who are likely to be high risk.

Lead Researcher	Isabel Carbery
Host Organisation	Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Grant Amount	£9,200.00
Start Date	01/08/2022
Estimated Duration	4 years
Impact Areas	Health Inequalities - Care of Older People
Tags/key notes	Oral and gastrointestinal