Abstract
Background/Aim Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic disorder affecting patients' quality of life and increasing their disability. The aim of our study was to evaluate clinical and pharmacological factors associated with impaired quality of life and disability in a large cohort of IBD patients during IBD treatment. Methods We consecutively and prospectively recruited all IBD patients referred to the IBD Unit of the “Azienda Ospedaliera” of Padua. Demographics and clinical information were collected, and all patients completed the IBD questionnaire (IBDQ) and the IBD-Disability Index (IBD-DI) questionnaire. A multivariate regression model and Spearman's rank correlation coefficient were applied for detecting IBD-related variables relevant to disability and quality of life. Results We included 435 IBD patients. Multivariate regression modelling identified active disease, anaemia, presence of extraintestinal manifestations, and Crohn subtype as independent predictors for both disability and poor quality of life. We observed a strong positive correlation between IBD-DI and IBDQ (r = 0.84, p < 0.001), while there was no association with ongoing therapy or other clinical features disease-related. Conclusions Our study showed that disability and quality of life are both associated with active disease, anaemia, presence of extraintestinal manifestations, and Crohn phenotype while ongoing therapy seems not to be associated with disability and QoL during disease management.
Highlights
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of chronic relapsing disorders that includes principally Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC)
Starting from a primary hypothesis that an adequate treatment and disease management should induce steroid-free remission, prevent relapses, and surgeries and avoid IBD-related disability and improve the patients’ quality of life, we aimed to evaluate clinical and pharmacological factors associated with impaired quality of life and disability in a large cohort of IBD patients
435 IBD patients were included in the study (203 CD, 232 UC)
Summary
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of chronic relapsing disorders that includes principally Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). Patients with IBD usually suffer from severe abdominal pain, diarrhoea, and fever. IBD patients experience impairment of health-related quality of life, fatigue, depression, and anxiety [3, 4]. Pharmacological therapy in IBD depends on disease severity and location and includes both conventional therapies (i.e., aminosalicylates, corticosteroids, and immunosuppressive agents) and biologic treatments targeting a specific inflammatory mediator instead of exerting a larger immune suppression. In this regard, antibodies against TNFα and integrin antagonists act regulating inflammatory mechanisms in both UC and CD [1]. Available biologic agents differ for immune target, route of administration, and frequency of drug administration [1, 9]
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