# Frailty in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

> **NIH NIH R03** · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · 2022 · $168,000

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY AND ABSTRACT
Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), comprised of Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), are chronic
inflammatory conditions of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract affecting over 3 million Americans. IBD is traditionally a
disease of the young, but IBD has a bimodal incidence with the second peak occurring in the 7th decade of life.
The aging population, decreasing fatality and the rise in incidence and prevalence have led to a prominent
increase in older adults with IBD: 26% of Americans with IBD are ≥65 years. IBD patients have geriatric
syndromes at earlier ages. Yet the impact of aging-related constructs, such as frailty, on IBD activity and
complications are unknown. In retrospective studies, a frailty-related diagnosis code was more prevalent in IBD
patients, associated with nearly twice the odds of infections after immunosuppression and nearly triple the odds
of mortality. Older adults with IBD have poorer disease and treatment related outcomes compared with younger
adults. Frailty constructs have successfully been used to risk stratify patients with cancers and end stage-liver
disease. Determining the relationship of frailty with IBD activity and complications is critical to comprehensively
assess older adults and risk stratify older patients receiving immunosuppression for IBD treatment. The goal of
this proposal is to use the Fried frailty phenotype to characterize frailty in adults ≥60 years with IBD. The aims
are to quantify the association between frailty and IBD activity and assess the longitudinal impact of frailty on
IBD and treatment-related complications. We have successfully undertaken a pilot study enrolling patients ≥60
years with a confirmed diagnosis of IBD in a cohort designed to study frailty. In this cohort, we will collect
demographics, IBD-related information, medications, patient reported outcomes (PROs) as well as disease-
specific activity indices. We will assess fatigue, unintentional weight loss and physical function using grip
strength, gait speed and a PRO as well administer the vulnerable elders scale (VES). We will repeat these
measures 6 and 12 months after a baseline evaluation for longitudinal follow-up. This proposal will be the first
prospective study of frailty in older adults with IBD. Positioning a frailty assessment within routine clinical care of
IBD patients is pioneering. Characterizing those who are physiologically more fit to withstand
immunosuppressive therapies may expand access for effective steroid-sparing, therapies to older adults. For
career development, this proposal will facilitate my research in aging-related processes in IBD patients and
provide the requisite training to apply principles of geriatrics to IBD. Furthermore, these aims will generate the
data needed for a competitive NIA K application to develop a multi-center cohort of older adults with IBD to better
understand frailty mechanisms and the utility of a tailored frailty instrument to risk st...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10466974
- **Project number:** 5R03AG074059-02
- **Recipient organization:** MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Bharati Kochar
- **Activity code:** R03 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $168,000
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-08-15 → 2023-10-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10466974

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10466974, Frailty in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (5R03AG074059-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10466974. Licensed CC0.

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