QUALITY OF LIFE IN PATIENTS WITH ULCERATIVE COLITIS

Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have to live with the perspective of a potential disability, which may lead in time to impaired quality of life (QoL). In order to fully understand the impact of IBD on patients and their careers we need to quantify the QoL. Aim: To evaluate HRQol in ulcerative colitis patients as opposed to the general population and to identify the significant changes of HRQoL in accordance with the specific progression of UC. Methods: The prospective study (January 2010 - December 2012), included 105 patients with ulcerative colitis (UC). Disease activity was quantified by means of the Truelove and Witts score (mild, moderate and severe). All patients were administered a self-completed IBD questionnaire (IBDQ). Lower scores were related to a worse QoL. Statistical analysis was performed and differences were considered significant when p <= 0.05. Results: Ninety-one percent (91%) were admitted with a flare, while they were asked to fill in the IBDQ. Proctitis was met in 2.94% of the cases, left-sided colitis in 71.1% and pancolitis in 26%. There were 32 patients with mild activity, 62 with moderate activity and only 3 with severe activity. The range score for QoL was 90-180. In proctitis: 80-190, in left-side colitis: 120-200, in pancolitis: 70-160 (p>0.05). The patients with severe form had a lower score (50-140) than patients in remission (130-180) (p<0.01). Conclusion: Patients with UC have significantly influenced the QoL as compared to the general population. We found no significant differences regarding the extension of the lesions. The severity of the flare had a significant impact on the QoL.