The influence of sleep factors and dietary habits on the disease pattern of ulcerative colitis patients with long and short disease courses – a multicentre cross-sectional analysis

Abstract

Background Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a disease characterized by chronic relapsing-remitting inflammatory disorders and is associated with environmental changes. Aim To explore the disease patterns of Chinese UC patients and to determine controllable related environmental factors. Methods This multicentre cross-sectional study was performed using a questionnaire survey. Data on clinical characteristics and environmental factors were collected. Patients with a disease course ≥5 years were defined as the long course group, and those with a disease course < 5 years were defined as the short course group. Results A total of 588 effective questionnaires were collected. The proportion of the chronic continuous pattern was the highest among patients with a long disease course (46.8%), and in patients with a short disease course, the proportion of the active to remission pattern was the highest (53.3%). In patients with a long disease course, a higher proportion of patients with adequate sleep was found in the active to remission pattern than in the chronic intermittent (72.1% vs. 43.3%, p = 0.008) and chronic continuous (72.1% vs. 52.4%, p = 0.016) patterns. In patients with a short disease course, the frequency of shellfish and shrimp was higher in the chronic continuous pattern group than in the active to remission pattern group (P = 0.001 and 0.017 respectively). Conclusions For early diagnosis patients, dietary guidance should be actively carried out. With the prolongation of the disease course, attention should be given to the sleep quality of patients.