Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 Jun;7(5):355-68.
doi: 10.1016/j.crohns.2012.02.014. Epub 2012 Apr 12.

Clinical status, psychosocial impairments, medical treatment and health care costs for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in Germany: an online IBD registry

B Bokemeyer  1 , J Hardt, D Hüppe, A Prenzler, S Conrad, M Düffelmeyer, P Hartmann, M Hoffstadt, T Klugmann, C Schmidt, J Weismüller, T Mittendorf, H Raspe
Affiliations

Clinical status, psychosocial impairments, medical treatment and health care costs for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in Germany: an online IBD registry

B Bokemeyer et al. J Crohns Colitis. 2013 Jun.

Abstract

Background: The aim of this cross-sectional study was to establish an online inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) registry for a first picture of the situation of IBD outpatients' treatment in Germany.

Methods: Between March 2006 and July 2007 IBD outpatients from 24 gastroenterological specialist practices and two hospitals in Germany were enrolled in an Internet-based registry to evaluate the outpatients' clinical status, psychological impairments, provided health care, as well as medical treatment and medication costs.

Results: 1032 IBD patients (ulcerative colitis/UC: 519; Crohn's disease/CD: 511; indeterminate colitis: 2) were enrolled in the study (age: 43 ± 14 years/M ± SD). Disease duration of all patients averaged 10 ± 8.5 years. In 519 UC-patients (49% male; 33% pancolitis), 66% were in remission as were 55% of CD patients (37 % male; 41 % active smokers). Associated with higher rates of disease activity (CDAI ≥ 150; CAI>4) were corticosteroids (CD, UC), topical medication (UC), relevant reported depressive symptoms (15%; 6-31%) and impairments in sexuality (21%; 9-42%). Relevant medication groups prescribed were oral aminosalicylates (UC: 70%; CD: 47%); immunosuppressive therapy - mostly azathioprine/6 MP (CD: 47%; UC: 26%), and Infliximab (CD: 8%; UC: 3%). Strongly associated with their clinical disease activity in UC as well as CD patients, 15% (6-31%) reported relevant depressive symptoms and 21% (9-42%) relevant impairments in sexuality.

Conclusions: The registry constitutes a large complemental database for the patient population in Germany. About one third of the IBD patients were not in clinical remission (CDAI ≥150/CAI >4) (CD: 45%; UC: 27%), although high rates of immunosuppressive drugs (CD: 47%; UC 26%) were administered. This study shows a large burden of active disease associated with an unexpectedly high (co)morbidity and high psychosocial impairments, indicating a reduced health state in IBD patients.

PubMed Disclaimer

MeSH terms