A Model of the Quality of Life in Patients with Crohn’s Disease

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop and test a structural model for quality of life (QoL) in patients with Crohn’s disease.Methods: A total of 273 patients with Crohn’s disease were surveyed during their outpatient visits in the department of gastrointestinal internal medicine. Assessment tools consisted of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire for QoL, Perceived Stress Scale for stress, Beck Depression Inventory-II for depression, Fatigue Scale for fatigue, and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support for social support. Structural equation modeling was used for data analysis, descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analysis, and factor analysis.Results: The modified model showed a good fit for the data. The model fit indices were <i>x</i><sup>2</sup>=9.36 (<i>p</i>=.671), RMSEA=.00, SRMR=.03, GFI=.99, AGFI=.97, NFI=.96, and CFI=1.00. The structure of the model demonstrated that disease severity, depression, stress, and social support explained 67.9% of the QoL of Crohn’s disease patients. The results showed that social support for patients with Crohn’s disease was high in terms of QoL; furthermore, when disease severity, depression, and stress were low, QoL was high.Conclusion: The results of this study show that disease severity, depression, stress, and social support have an important effect on the QoL of patients with Crohn’s disease. Therefore, it is necessary to take these variables into consideration when developing nursing interventions.