Impact of diagnostic delay to the clinical presentation and associated factors in pediatric inflammatory bowel disease: a retrospective study

Abstract Background Undelayed diagnosis is thought to be a major determinant for good prognosis in pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (PIBD). However, factors predicting diagnostic delay and the consequences of this remain poorly defined. We investigated these issues in a well-defined cohort of PIBD patients. Methods Comprehensive electronic data were collected from 136 PIBD patients retrospectively. Diagnostic delay was further classified into 6 months in all PIBD (OR 2.07, 95% CI 1.00–4.31) and in UC patients (3.15, 1.14–8.7), while bloody stools predicted a shorter delay in all PIBD (0.28, 0.14–0.59) patients and in CD (0.10, 0.03–0.41) patients. A delay > 6 months was associated with a higher frequency of complications (2.28, 1.01–5.19). Conclusions Delay occurred mostly before specialist consultation, was longer in children presenting with abdominal pain and in CD and was associated with risk of complications. These findings emphasize the roles of active case-finding and prompt diagnostic evaluations