Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Sep 28, 2016; 22(36): 8219-8225
Published online Sep 28, 2016. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v22.i36.8219
Pregnancy and inflammatory bowel disease: Do we provide enough patient education? A British study of 1324 women
Isabel Carbery, Jihane Ghorayeb, Anna Madill, Christian P Selinger
Isabel Carbery, Christian P Selinger, Leeds Gastroenterology Institute, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Leeds LS9 7TF, United Kingdom
Jihane Ghorayeb, Anna Madill, School of Psychology, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, United Kingdom
Author contributions: Carbery I contributed to data collection and analysis and wrote the draft manuscript; Selinger CP designed the study, collected and analysed the data and critically reviewed the manuscript; Ghorayeb J and Madill A contributed to data collection and analysis, and critically reviewed the manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: The study was approved by the National Research Ethics Service Committee North West - Preston (14/NW/1391).
Informed consent statement: Patients provided informed consent by completing the anonymous online questionnaire.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Selinger CP has received unrestricted research grants from Warner Chilcott, and Abbvie, has provided consultancy to Warner Chilcott, Dr Falk, Abbvie and Takeda, and had speaker arrangements with Warner Chilcott, Dr Falk, Abbvie, MSD and Takeda. The other authors report no relevant conflict of interest.
Data sharing statement: Data are available on request from the lead author.
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: Christian P Selinger, MD, MSc, MRCP, Consultant Gastroenterologist, Clinical Lead for Gastroenterology, Leeds Gastroenterology Institute, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, St James University Hospital, Bexley Wing, Beckett Street, Leeds LS9 7TF, United Kingdom. christian.selinger@web.de
Telephone: +44-113-2068768 Fax: +44-113-2068851
Received: June 16, 2016
Peer-review started: June 17, 2016
First decision: July 29, 2016
Revised: August 11, 2016
Accepted: August 30, 2016
Article in press: August 30, 2016
Published online: September 28, 2016
Processing time: 101 Days and 12.1 Hours
Abstract
AIM

To examine patient knowledge and factors influencing knowledge about pregnancy in British women with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

METHODS

This is a post hoc analysis of a study of female members of Crohn’s and Colitis United Kingdom, aged 18-45 years who were sent an online questionnaire recording patient demographics, education, employment, marital status, and disease characteristics. Disease related pregnancy knowledge was recorded using Crohn’s and colitis pregnancy knowledge score (CCPKnow).

RESULTS

Of 1324 responders, 776 (59%) suffered from Crohn’s disease, 496 (38%) from ulcerative colitis and 52 (4%) from IBD-uncategorised. CCPKnow scores were poor (0-7) in 50.8%, adequate (8-10) in 23.6%, good (11-13) in 17.7% and very good (≥ 14) in 7.8%. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that higher CCPKnow scores were independently associated with higher educational achievement (P < 0.001), younger age at diagnosis (P = 0.003) and having consulted a health care professional about pregnancy and IBD (P = 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Knowledge was poor in 50%. Speaking with health-care professionals was a modifiable factor associated with better knowledge. This illustrates the importance of disease related pregnancy education

Keywords: Inflammatory bowel disease; Ulcerative colitis; Crohn’s disease; Patient knowledge; Pregnancy; Reproduction

Core tip: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) affects many women of childbearing age and knowledge of IBD and pregnancy related issues, is key to enable patients to make informed decisions. In this large study of British women with IBD, knowledge was poor in over half of participants. Speaking with health care professionals about pregnancy was identified as a modifiable factor associated with better knowledge. This study illustrates first the importance of disease related education for female patients with IBD and second highlights that health professionals should seek opportunities to educate patients about pregnancy and IBD early in their disease course.