Relevance of Patient-Reported Outcomes for the Management of Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Patient adherence is a major problem in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Research has shown that improved patient adherence and outcomes can be achieved if physicians are able to dedicate more time and attention to analysing patients’ feedback on their healthcare. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has defined patient-reported outcomes (PROs) as “any report of the status of a patient’s health condition that comes directly from the patient, without interpretation of the patient’s response by a clinician or anyone else.” Such patient reports may include various symptoms that are not obvious or that occur in the absence of an observer; they may describe the frequency and severity of a symptom, and the impact that it has on day-to-day life. They can describe factors such as patient satisfaction, productivity, use of resources, and health-related quality of life (QoL). Interestingly, PROs do not always correlate with the physician’s view. Evidence has shown that physicians often underestimate the severity of a patient’s illness, report fewer problems than patients, and overestimate the improvements of treatment. In order to improve the value of PROs, physicians must engage patients in their disease management, otherwise known as patient empowerment. Empowerment can improve treatment success. As it is becoming clearer that empowered and informed patients who are able to have a role in the decision-making have better outcomes, PROs will not only have further impact on the management of patients with IBD but also on health technology assessments and healthcare payer decisions.