Capacity for work and employment record of patients with inflammatory bowel disease

The literature on the vocational effects of inflammatory bowel disease is scanty. This paper describes the effects in a sample of 170 patients, supplemented with data obtained from the Ileostomy Association. Work capacity is affected by diarrhoea, urgency (including the problem of access to toilets), fatigue, and hospitalization. Rare complications, such as arthritis, represent special difficulties. The fashioning of an ileostomy has, as a general rule, a positive effect on the ability of the patient to work and, overall, inflammatory bowel disease should not prevent the vast majority of patients from successfully following a chosen career.