Measuring Mood and Anxiety Disorders by Patient Reported Outcomes in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Literature Review Update

Background: Anxiety and depression are the most common psychological disorders found in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) patients. Accurate measuring of these disorders should be proposed for prompt management. Patient-reported outcome measurements (PROMs) allow patients to self-report their psychological symptoms. Objective: The objective of this study is to highlight the presence of PROMs measuring anxiety and depression in IBD setting, evaluating the most used psychometric tools. Methods: We reviewed the literature from 2010 up to September 2021. Articles on adult IBD patients assessing depression and anxiety by PROMs in English language were included. Results: Thirty-six studies, including 11 psychometric tools were found. Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (21 studies), Beck Depression Inventory II (5 studies), Spielberg State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (3 studies), Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (3 studies), Symptom Checklist-90 (2 studies), Euro Quality of Life (2 studies) mostly used psychometric tools for anxiety and depression in IBD settings. Conclusion: Our review analyzed psychometric tools used for PROMs evaluating anxiety and depression in IBD setting. No chronological differences have emerged, all have been used in the last ten years, highlighting lack of specificity. The strong association between IBD and mood disorders suggests that clinicians should consider the evaluation of depression and anxiety as integral parts of IBD clinical care. It is essential to identify tools enabling these items to be detected better. A global view of IBD patients, accounting not only for physical but also for psychical symptoms with an early and feasible assessment of unrecognized psychiatric disorders, can have a strong impact on their management strategy.