Health Confidence Is Associated With Disease Outcomes and Health Care Utilization in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A...

We aimed to examine the associations between health confidence (one's belief on the degree of control on their health and disease), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) outcomes, and health care utilization among adults with IBD.

In total, 17,205 surveys were analyzed from a cross-sectional sample of IBD patients at 23 gastroenterology (GI) practices participating in the Crohn's and Colitis Foundations' IBD Qorus Learning Health System. We used bivariate analyses and multivariable logistic regression to examine associations between health confidence and disease activity, opioid use, glucocorticoid use, well-being, and health care utilization. We used receiver operating curve analysis to determine a clinically relevant cutoff for health confidence (0-10 Likert scale).

Health confidence was highly correlated with patients' well-being, symptomatic disease activity, opioid use, and glucocorticoid use (all P < .0001). Health confidence scores <8 had 69% sensitivity for emergency department (ED) visits and 66% for hospitalizations. In patients with inactive disease, patients with low health confidence (<8) were 10 times more likely to call/message the GI office >4 times/month (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 10.3; 95% CI, 6.1-17.3; P < .0001), 3-4 times more likely to have an IBD-related ED visit (aOR, 4.0; 95% CI, 2.9, 5.4. P < .0001), or hospitalization (aOR, 3.0, 95% CI, 2.1, 4.1, P < .0001) compared with patients with high health confidence (≥8).

In a large, national sample of adults with IBD, there were strong associations between patients' health confidence and multiple disease outcome measures. Health confidence scores <8 on a 0-10 Likert scale may be clinically useful to screen for patients who are at risk for ED visits and hospitalizations.