Abstract:

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a group of chronic and relapsing diseases claimed to be developed among genetically vulnerable individuals under the influence of misregulation of interactions between environmental factors and host immune system. The presence of a chronic disease is frequently associated with anxiety, depression and decline in the quality of life. In this study, our objective is to explore depression, anxiety and quality of life according to the diagnosis subtype in a group of IBD patients. Method: Patients currently being followed with the diagnosis of IBD in the outpatient clinics of our hospital and who agreed to participate were included in the study. Each case was given self-administered queries of Short Form-36 (SF-36), Hospital Depression Anxiety Scale (HAS) after being questioned for socio-demographic data. Results: 55 patients participated in our study, 50.9% (n=28) of whom had Ulcerative Colitis (UC), and 49.1% (n=27) had Crohn's Disease (CD). The rate of smoking in patients with CD was significantly high (p=0.024). Both anxiety and depression scores were found to be higher in CD patients. HAD depression scores were significantly higher (p=0.002) in CD patients, however the difference in anxiety scores between the two groups has not been found to be statistically significant (p=0.132). There was no statistically significant difference between groups in terms of quality of life. Among all IBD patients, the quality of life indexes were found to be worse in cases with higher depression and anxiety scores. Conclusion: In the light of the data analyzed, the quality of life in both CD and UC groups is determined to be poor. There is a need for further research in wider follow up patient groups.

Keywords: