Abstract
Purpose: To assess the impact of surgery on quality of life (QOL) in ulcerative colitis (UC). Methods: A random digit dial phone survey of 1,000 pts with UC in the US was conducted. Respondents were selected from an opt-in database of 17 million US consumers, of which 40,000 self-identified as having UC. Of the 40,000 potential respondents, about 19,000 had confirmable contact information, and were used as targets to arrive at the desired sample of 1,000. Contact was attempted with 7,900 potential respondents, and the overall response rate was 13% (1000/7900). The survey consisted of an interview lasting about 27 minutes. Information was gathered regarding prior surgeries for UC, including total colectomy and various QOL indicators. Summary statistics were calculated. Results: Of the 1,000 respondents,19.7% (197) had UC-related surgery in the past 5 yrs, with an average of 2.3 surgeries per respondent. The mean time from diagnosis to first surgery was 39.6 months. Of the respondents who had undergone surgery, 37.1% had their entire colon removed and 31% reported that they were required to wear an ostomy bag. Almost equal percentages of respondents indicated that their lives were better before surgery as opposed to better after surgery (49.2% vs. 45.0%). This was also true for those who had a total colectomy (32.6% vs. 30.4%). However, QOL was still affected by UC following surgery (Table). Pts who had undergone surgery also reported a substantial number of workdays missed (9.3 in the past 30 days) and less productive workdays (24.7 in the past 30 days) due to UC symptoms.Table: Mean number of days in the past 30 days with UC-related symptomsConclusion: Almost 20% of respondents reported having surgery for UC, and those who had surgery still reported feelings of pain, depression, anxiety, sleeplessness and stress due to their disease. Work life following surgery was still negatively affected. Further studies are needed to better understand optimal management and outcomes in UC.
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