Quality of life in patients with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Comparative analysis

Introduction: Inflammatory bowel diseases are idiopathic chronic conditions of the gastrointestinal tract. The major types of IBD are Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). They interfere with the daily life of those affected and may potentially cause lifelong disability.
Aim: To assess health-related quality of life and bio-psychosocial functioning in a community-based sample of patients with inflammatory bowel disease and explore its association with gender, level of education, dwelling place, duration, type and phase of disease.
Material and methods: Fifty-one patients with ulcerative colitis and forty-one patients with Crohn’s disease were involved in the study. Health related quality of life was assessed by a disease-specific instrument, a Polish version of Rating Form of IBD Patients Concerns (RFIPC) and by self made questionnaire.
Results and conclusions: It was confirmed that patients suffering from inflammatory bowel disease assessed their health related quality of life as low. Highest scores (the worst quality of life) were significantly associated with female gender, exacerbation of disease, short duration of disease, patients living in the country and patients with low level of education. Biopsychosocial functioning of most patients from these groups is gravely disturbed and thus require a particular attention in care and specialist treatment.