Health Related Quality of Life in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Department of Gastroenterology of Dhaka Medical College Hospital: An Observational Study.

Abstract

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) consisting of Crohn's disease (CD) and Ulcerative colitis (UC) are chronic inflammatory disorders of the GI tract with various symptoms such as diarrhea, fatigue, weight loss and abdominal pain. Factors like extra intestinal manifestations, the effects of medical and surgical treatments, frequent hospitalizations that place substantial burden on the daily lives and cause significant impairment in their quality of life. Health related quality of life (HRQoL) assessment is totally separate entity for assessing the effectiveness of clinical activity and management. This study was performed to assess the impact of IBD on patients' Health Related Quality of Life using SF-36 questionnaire. This was a Cross sectional observational study conducted in the Department of Gastroenterology, Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh from October 2018 to September 2019. In total fifty (50) patients more than 18-year-old diagnosed as IBD were enrolled for the study. In this study, total 50 IBD patients were enrolled with male predominance 38(76.0%). The mean age of patients was 30.19 years in Ulcerative colitis and 30.39 years was in Crohn's Disease. Among total (n=50) patients, Ulcerative colitis were 32(64.0%) and Crohn's disease were 18(36.0%). In respect of disease activity 37(74.0%) were with active disease and 13(26.0%) were in remission. Clinical factors such as disease activity, disease severity, surgery, stricturing Crohn's disease were associated with significantly low HRQoL scores. No differences were found between HRQoL scores with Ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, location of diseases, medical therapies and duration of the disease. The evaluation of HRQoL by SF-36 for patients with IBD in clinical practice enhances the understanding of the disease impact on patients' lives and activities but also help us to manage the patients appropriately.