Authors: Guthrie E, Jackson J, Shaffer J, Thompson D, Tomenson B, Creed F.

Institution: School of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences, University of Manchester, United Kingdom.

Objective: The determinants of health-related quality of life in inflammatory bowel disease are not completely understood. The present study aimed to assess two factors in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: a) whether health-related quality of life is independently associated with both bowel disease severity and psychological disorder, and b) whether Crohn's disease is associated with more marked psychological disorder than ulcerative colitis.

Conclusion: The presence of psychological disorder in inflammatory bowel disease contributes to poor health-related quality of life, regardless of the severity of the condition. Detection and treatment of psychological disorder in inflammatory bowel disease carries the potential to improve health-related quality of life for these patients.

Study link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=12190166&query_hl=58&itool=pubmed_docsum

• Psychological Distress and Levels of Disease Activity in Inflammatory Bowel Disease
• Health-Related Quality of Life and Psychological Distress in a Population-Based Sample of Swedish Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease
• Psychological Disorder and Severity of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Predict Health-related Quality of Life in Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's Disease