Assessing health-related quality of life in patients with inflammatory bowel disease in Zhejiang, China

Abstract

Aims: The aim of this study was to assess health-related quality of life in patients with inflammatory bowel disease in Zhejiang, Mainland China.

Background: The incidence of inflammatory bowel disease in China is believed to be low but has been increasing in the past decade. The quality of life of Chinese patients with inflammatory bowel disease is unknown.

Design: A cross-sectional study.

Methods: The study was conducted in 92 patients with inflammatory bowel disease in Zhejiang, China, 52 with ulcerative colitis and 40 with Crohn's disease. Health-related quality of life was measured by the Chinese version of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire and Short Form-36, respectively. Disease activity was assessed by the Walmsley and Harvey-Bradshaw simple indices for ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, respectively. Demographic and clinical variables were also recorded. Short Form-36 data from the study sample were compared with a reference population of 1688 Chinese people residing in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.

Results: No significant health-related quality of life differences were found between patients with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease (p > 0.05). Pooled data showed that inflammatory bowel disease patients with active disease had significantly lower scores for all eight dimensions of Short Form-36 compared to those in remission (p < 0.01); those with active disease scored significantly lower than population norms in all dimensions of Short Form-36 except mental health (p < 0.05); whereas those in remission scored significantly lower than population norms in role physical (p < 0.01) and general health dimensions (p < 0.05). The regression analyses identified only disease activity index and employment status to explain variations in health-related quality of life (p < 0.01).

Conclusions: Inflammatory bowel disease similarly impairs health-related quality of life in patients with both ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.

Relevance to clinical practice: The results suggest that any interventions that produce a stable clinical remission, whether medical or surgical, allowing patients to return to their usual work position can decrease the disease impact on their daily lives.