A narrative literature review of the incidence and prevalence of safety outcomes in patients with ulcerative colitis

Information on rates of safety outcomes in patients with ulcerative colitis [UC] is helpful to better understand the benefit-risk profile of more recent therapies approved for UC. This narrative review provides an updated examination of the incidence and prevalence of safety outcomes in the UC patient population. Incidence and prevalence estimates were determined for outcomes including cardiac conduction disorders, infections and malignancies from published literature [2013-2023]. While information for certain outcomes was more frequently recorded, such as herpes viral infection (incidence rate [IR] 0.0-4.47 per 100 person-years [PY]) and malignancies [all; IR 0.0-1.77 per 100 PY], rarer outcome estimates such as bradycardia [IR 0.2 per 100 PY] and macular edema [IR 0.2 per 100 PY] were limited. Our knowledge of certain, uncommon safety outcomes and concomitant medical conditions in the UC population remains limited given the lack of data available. Even though larger cohorts with longer follow-up are warranted, estimates provided in this review will contribute to an improved understanding of the safety profile of UC therapies.