Professional paper
Gender Related Differences in Quality of Life and Affective Status in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Goran Hauser
Mladenka Tkalčić
Davor Štimac
Sandra Milić
Brankica Mijandrušić Sinčić
Abstract
According to the literature, quality of life has been shown to be reduced in females compared with males with Inflamatory
Bowel Disease (IBD). Psychosocial factors are also playing an important role in IBD, especially emotional lability.
The aims of study was to investigate the sex differences in general and specific health-related quality of life (HRQoL),
anxiety and depression in IBD patients. Hundred and twelve outpatients of the Gastroenterology Division, Clinical Hospital
Centre Rijeka, were enrolled in our study and divided in two groups: 50 females (31 with ulcerative colitis,UC and
19 with Crohn disease, CD) and 62 males (30 with UC and 32 with CD), age range 19 to 74 (M=41.46; SD=13.06). Most
patients have been in long clinical remission or with mild disease acording to Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI)
score for CD and Clinical Activity Index (CAI) score for UC. There were significant differences in physical (F=13.96,
p<.0001) and mental (F=9.44, p<.001) component of the general HRQoL, emotional domain ((F=9.26, p<.001) and
bowel symptoms (F=7.04, p<.001) of the Inflamatory Bowel Disease Quality of life (IBDQoL), as well as, in anxiety
(F=7.03, p<.001) and depression (F=12.09, p<.0001) between men and women with IBD. Women have expressed significantly
lower level of the general HRQoL and more emotional disturbances connected with their disease as well as more
frequent bowel symptoms compared with men. Effect sizes of those differences were large. Results of this study confirm
that women with IBD are more prone to the negative impact of the disease on their HRQoL than men. Women with
higher level of depression and anxiety experienced more emotional disturbances, bowel and systemic symptoms and
lower general HRQoL. These results should deserve more considerations in the clinical treatment of IBD patients.
Keywords
quality of life; inflammatory bowel disease; gender
Hrčak ID:
72267
URI
Publication date:
25.9.2011.
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