Abstract

Crohn's disease (CD) leads to chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract that significantly impacts patients over an entire lifetime. The decrease in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) may have an impact on patient's level of functioning, work productivity, and other activities. The goal of treatment for CD is clinical remission based on clinical, endoscopic, and biological parameters. There has been introduction of new treatments in recent years. A review was conducted to assess the impact of non-remission on HRQoL and patient reported outcomes (PROs) in patients with CD. Literature search of English language publications from 2015-2021 was conducted in Embase® and MEDLINE®. Real world studies meeting predefined criteria (adult CD patients in non-remission presenting data for HRQoL or PROs) were included in the review. Data on study characteristics, disease characteristics, HRQoL and PROs were extracted from the included studies. The review retrieved 1384 records from which only 10 studies presented data for HRQoL and/or PROs. The definition of remission varied across the included studies. In most studies (90%), remission was defined using Harvey-Bradshaw Index and/or Crohn's disease activity index. Different tools were used to assess HRQoL and sleep quality. In a study, no normalization of long-term HRQoL was observed in patients who did not achieve clinical remission. A negative correlation was found between utility indexes & disease activity in a study (ρ = -0.586, p < 0.001). A significant correlation was also observed in a study between HRQoL and disease activity where HRQoL in patients with active disease was poor compared to patients in remission. The HRQoL domains of anxiety, depression and pain were impacted in non-remitters. The mean IBDQ score was 189 ± 16.1 in remitters and 145 ± 15.9 in non-remitters (p < 0.001). A strong negative correlation between IBDQ and disease activity was reported by a study. In a study, work productivity was moderately but significantly correlated with disease activity indicating reduction in work productivity of patients with active disease (mild, moderate, and severe) compared to remitters. In another study, severe disease activity was significantly associated with an increased amount of fragmented sleep. Patients with moderate to severe disease had a significantly longer time awake after falling asleep compared to patients in remission or with mild disease activity (65.8 minutes, 44.3 minutes, 49.1 minutes, respectively). Patients with active disease also reported poor sleep quality and suffered from excessive daytime sleepiness. There was a significant difference in the median sleep efficiency for patients with moderate to severe disease compared to patients with remission. This targeted review found in general that not being able to achieve/maintain remission had an impact on the HRQoL of patients with CD. Patients not achieving remission were associated with decreased work productivity, poor sleep quality, lower sleep efficiency, daytime sleepiness and poor HRQoL. However, studies assessing HRQoL and PROs in the real-world are scarce, with discrepancies based on remission status. Further research is warranted, and health care providers and payers should consider the impact of therapies on the improvement in HRQoL of patients with CD.

Full Text
Published version (Free)

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call