Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2017. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jan 7, 2017; 23(1): 121-126
Published online Jan 7, 2017. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v23.i1.121
Estimation of quality of life in Cypriot patients with inflammatory bowel disease
Maria Tsoukka, Eleni Jelastopulu, Giagkos Lavranos, George Charalambous
Maria Tsoukka, Postgraduate Program Health Management, Frederick University, Nicosia, Cyprus University General Hospital of Larnaca, 7020 Larnaca, Cyprus
Eleni Jelastopulu, Department of Public Health, School of Medicine, University of Patras, 261 Patras, Greece
Giagkos Lavranos, Department of Health Sciences, School of Sciences, European University, 1516 Nicosia, Cyprus
George Charalambous, General Hospital of Athens “Hippocratio”, 100 Athens, Greece
Author contributions: Tsoukka M was the primary researcher of the study as part of her PhD thesis and prepared the first draft of the manuscript; Jelastopulu E, Lavranos G and Charalambous G provided critical revisions and additions; both prior to submission and during the reviewer revision process.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Research Committee of the Frederick University and ethical approval was given by the National Committee of Bioethics at the Ministry of Health.
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There are no conflicts of interest to report.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Maria Tsoukka, PhD candidate, MSc Health Management, Postgraduate Program Health Management, Frederick University, Nicosia, Cyprus University General Hospital of Larnaca, Kalavardon No. 16, Dromolaxia, Larnaca 7020, Cyprus. mariate@windowslive.com
Telephone: +357-99538776 Fax: +357-2466017
Received: May 28, 2016
Peer-review started: May 30, 2016
First decision: September 20, 2016
Revised: October 20, 2016
Accepted: November 14, 2016
Article in press: November 16, 2016
Published online: January 7, 2017
Abstract
AIM

To investigate the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of patients suffering with idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

METHODS

The Greek validated version of the Short Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire was used for evaluating the quality of life of IBD patients. The questionnaire was distributed to 100 consecutive patients suffering from IBD and presenting for a clinic appointment at the endoscopy unit of Larnaca General Hospital during the period from October to November 2012. The criteria for participating in this study were constituted by the documented diagnosis of either ulcerative colitis (UC) or Crohn’s disease (CD) after endoscopy and histologic examination at least 6 months before the study, adult patients (18 years old or older), the capability of verbal communication and the patient’s written consent for attending this study. The majority of the questionnaires were completed by a nurse practitioner who specializes in IBD patient care.

RESULTS

Regarding the physical dimension in patients with UC, males scored significantly higher than females (4.2 vs 3.4, P = 0.023). Higher scores were also observed in UC patients younger than 35 or older than 50 years (4.0 and 4.2 vs 3.2, respectively, P = 0.021). The psychological dimension revealed similar results in patients with UC, with males, and older ages scoring higher (5.0 vs 3.0, P = 0.01 and 4.7 vs 2.7, P < 0.5, respectively), whereas regarding CD higher scores were observed in married compared to unmarried (3.83 vs 2.33, P = 0.042). No statistical differences in any parameters in the social dimension were observed. Regarding the treatment of, patients with CD, overall higher scores were observed when treated with biological factors compared to standard therapy in all dimensions but with statistical significant difference in the social dimension (5.00 vs 3.25, P = 0.045).

CONCLUSION

The study reveals a negative impact of IBD on HRQoL. Increased risks are age and gender in patients with UC and family status in patients with CD.

Keywords: Crohn’s disease, Health related quality of life, Quality of life, Short inflammatory bowel disease questionnaire, Ulcerative colitis

Core tip: The study reveals an overall negative impact of idiopathic inflammatory bowel diseases on health-related quality of life (HRQoL), mostly in patients with Crohn’s disease (CD). Increased risks for decreased HRQoL are age and gender in patients with ulcerative colitis and family status in patients with CD. This is the first application of the validated Greek version of the short inflammatory bowel disease questionnaire in a patient population in Cyprus.