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Dynamic Adhesion Assay for the Functional Analysis of Anti-adhesion Therapies in Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Published on: September 20, 2018
Guideline adherence and patient satisfaction in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disorders--an evaluation study
Claudia Pieper1, Sebastian Haag, Stefan Gesenhues
1Institute for Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology, University Hospital of Essen, Essen, Germany. claudia.pieper@uk-essen.de
Insights
Inflammatory bowel disorders (IBD), including Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), significantly impact patient quality of life. Improving patient-physician communication and guideline adherence are key to enhancing treatment satisfaction for IBD patients.
Area of Science:
- Gastroenterology and Internal Medicine
- Patient-Reported Outcomes
- Healthcare Quality Research
Background:
- Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) are the most common inflammatory bowel disorders (IBD).
- IBD impose a substantial societal burden due to high healthcare utilization and associated costs.
- Limited data exists on patient satisfaction, quality of life, and treatment adherence in IBD management.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify factors influencing treatment quality, patient satisfaction, and quality of life in individuals with IBD.
- To assess the patient experience in managing chronic gastrointestinal conditions.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional study involving 86 patients diagnosed with CD or UC.
- Data collection included quality of treatment, quality of life, patient satisfaction, consulting behavior, and adherence to guidelines.
- Patients were recruited from various healthcare settings.
Main Results:
- A significant delay in diagnosis (over 4 years for 19%) and high physician consultation rates were observed.
- IBD patients reported significantly reduced quality of life compared to the general population.
- Nearly half experienced severe symptoms despite treatment, and 35% rated their care as moderate to poor.
Conclusions:
- Adherence to clinical guidelines presents a significant challenge in IBD care.
- Structural healthcare policy issues also contribute to treatment deficiencies.
- Enhanced healthcare delivery and consistent patient-physician communication are crucial for improving patient satisfaction in IBD.
Background:
Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) are the most frequent inflammatory bowel disorders (IBD). IBD cause a significant burden to society due to extensive health care utilization from the first clinical symptoms until diagnosis and thereafter due to direct and indirect costs. Besides the socio-economic impact of CD and UC, gastrointestinal and extraintestinal symptoms affect quality of life, but there is remarkably little data about the quality of treatment as assessed by patient satisfaction, quality of life and adherence to guidelines. Thus the aim of this study was to identify variables that influence quality of treatment and quality of life as well as patient satisfaction.
Methods:
The Essener Zirkel Study was a cross sectional study of 86 IBD-patients with a confirmed diagnosis of CD or UC. They were recruited at primary, secondary and tertiary care settings. Quality of treatment, quality of life and patient satisfaction were evaluated. Consulting behaviour and number of examinations, duration of disease and variables regarding adherence to guidelines were evaluated, too.
Results:
59 (69%) patients had CD and 27 had UC (31%). 19% spent more than four years until the suspected diagnosis of IBD was confirmed and visited more than five physicians. All patients showed a significantly reduced quality of life compared to the 1998 German normative population. In spite of being under medical treatment, nearly half of the patients suffered from strong quality of life restricting symptoms. Over all, 35% described their treatment as moderate or bad. Patients who consulted psychotherapists and non-medical practitioners suffered significantly less from depression.
Conclusion:
Besides structural deficiencies due to the health care policy, we revealed the adherence to guidelines to be a problem area. Our findings support the assumption, that providing better health care and especially maintaining constant patient-physician communication improves patient satisfaction.
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