P367 Quality of life in patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Abstract

Background Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has a lengthy natural history with significant symptomatic impacts. Crohn’s disease (CD) and Ulcerative colitis (UC) both have a major impact on patient Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL). This study aims to evaluate the postulated negative effect of IBD on HRQoL in the Lebanese population. Methods Cross sectional data was collected from a group of, 55 Lebanese patients with IBD (43 with CD and, 12 with UC). Demographic and disease-related data were recorded. Health Related Quality of Life was assessed by disease-specific and generic questionnaires, Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (IBDQ) and Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), respectively. Disease activity was assessed based on Harvey-Bradshaw Index (HBI) and the Colitis Activity Index (CAI) for CD and UC patients, respectively. Results IBD resulted in sub-optimal scores in both IBDQ-32 and SF-36, especially in UC patients (mean IBDQ-32 of, 174.8 [UC]vs, 208.8 [CD]; P<0.01 and mean SF-36 of, 111.4 [UC] vs, 130.3[CD]; P<0.05) and in patients classified in the increased disease activity group “Severe symptoms” (P<0.01 for both questionnaires). In addition, only IBDQ-32 scores were significantly decreased for patients classified in the long disease duration group “>60 months” (P<0.05). Last but not least, treatment modality had a significant relation to HRQoL for all studied treatment subtypes. Conclusion Health Related Quality of Life in Lebanese patients is negatively impacted by IBD, but relatively to a lesser degree than what has been previously reported from other countries using IBDQ questionnaire as an assessment tool. More specifically, patients with UC, longer disease duration and higher disease activity have an increased negative impact on HRQoL. Treatment modality had significant relation to HRQoL, but larger scale studies are still needed to reach more reliable conclusions.