Psychological distress is highly prevalent in inflammatory bowel disease: A survey of psychological needs and attitudes

Abstract

Background and Aim Data on patient needs and access to psychological services in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are scarce. This study aimed to describe the levels of distress and the needs, attitudes, and access to psychological services for people within Australia against established Australian IBD Standards. Methods An online cross‐sectional survey was conducted with Australians ≥16 years old recruited via Crohn's & Colitis Australia membership, public and private clinics, and the Royal Flying Doctor Service. K10 was used to measure psychological distress. The Chi‐square test was used to compare those with and without distress on key variables. Results Overall, 731 respondents provided complete data (71.5% female, mean age 46.5 years). Overall, 50% of respondents reported distress; only 15.2% were currently seeing a mental health practitioner; only 16.1% were asked about their mental health by their IBD specialist or IBD nurse; and only 12.2% reported access to a mental health practitioner as part of their IBD service. Those with psychological distress were significantly less satisfied with their IBD care; more commonly hospitalized; had an active disease, fistula or perianal disease, pain, or fatigue; and were receiving steroids, opioids, or antidepressants (all P < 0.05). As many as 68.2% of those with severe distress were not seeing a mental health practitioner. Conclusions The integrated biopsychosocial model of health care, with regular mental health screening and good access to mental health professionals, is requested by people living with IBD to improve their outcomes.

COVID-19 quarantine measures are associated with negative social impacts and compromised follow-up care in patients with inflammatory bowel disease in Brazil

“…Despite a lack of adequate tools for assessing patient-reported outcomes during pandemics, our study showed that the COVID-19 outbreak had a high impact, as most patients were adhering some type of social distance measure, with almost half of the sample reporting impairment of their general activities and sex lives. Psychological distress is common in IBD patients [ 31 ]. Nevertheless, most people had psychological symptoms due to the COVID-19 outbreak.…”

Revisiting Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Pathology, Treatments, Challenges and Emerging Therapeutics Including Drug Leads from Natural Products

“…Sleep disturbances are said to be common in IBD patients [95,96]. Some studies [97,98] have reported that symptoms of depression and anxiety cause clinical recurrence in IBD patients. However, stressful life events are not associated with the onset of inflammatory disease [99].…”

“…But providing adequate mental healthcare access to IBD patients remains a hurdle even in many developed countries, including Australia. In one of the most extensive surveys focusing on mental health needs, attitudes, and access to mental health services in people living with IBD in Australia [98], a significant gap was identified in the mental healthcare services among IBD patients. Only 12% of the total of 731 participants had access to psychologists.…”

Perceptions of sleep in Inflammatory Bowel Disease and the acceptability of sleep interventions in routine care: A qualitative study

“…Furthermore, the relationship between sleep and mental health (particularly anxiety and depression) appears to be bidirectional in nature, with each being able to impact the other in a cyclical manner (Alvaro et al, 2013). Given that there is a high prevalence of mental health difficulties (particularly anxiety and depression) within people living with IBD (Mikocka-Walus et al, 2020), it is important that any study of the sleep-IBD relationship considers the role of mental health as it is likely an important determinant of poor sleep in IBD.…”

“…In fact, a common problem when implementing behaviour change interventions in different populations is that there is often a mismatch between the original target population (i.e., people with insomnia) and the new target population (i.e., people with IBD and problems sleeping) that presents a number of challenges. For example, people living with IBD often experience physical health problems that can directly interfere with sleep (e.g., abdominal pain and needing to use the bathroom throughout the night), an increased prevalence of mental health difficulties that affect sleep (Mikocka-Walus et al, 2020), as well as the adverse effects that some IBD treatments and management options have on sleep (e.g., PERCEPTIONS OF SLEEP IN IBD 22 steroid medication, surgery). Moreover, IBD specific characteristics not only present challenges for CBTi intervention content, but also for its delivery.…”