[Incapacity to work, occupational disability and disability in inflammatory bowel disease]

Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) are chronic-inflammatory bowel diseases with unknown etiology. The major symptoms in CD are pain and abdominal discomfort, sometimes associated with weight loss and a series of intestinal and/or extraintestinal symptoms. UC, on the other hand, is characterized by diarrhea which can be bloody and lead to iron deficiency anemia. The course of both diseases can be quite variabel: the extent of the disease, the severity and the complications are variable and unpredictable. Many patients have acute flare-ups followed by long phases of remission. Flare-ups can be associated with complications. From the perspective of an insurance, the variable course of disease, the unpredicatable complications and the variable quality of life make it difficult to make valid judgements and predictions. This is partly due to the fact that very little longterm data are available. It is therefore important to generate this information in the next few years.