Abstract Background IBD is a chronic condition that can negatively impact quality of life and functional ability, leading to anxiety and depression. While the treatments used not only lead to clinical and laboratory changes, improving patients’ quality of life is also an important goal of treatment. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effects of ustekinumab treatment on the quality of life of IBD patients. Methods Patients over 18 years of age who were initiated on ustekinumab with IBD at the Mersin University Faculty of Medicine Gastroenterology Clinic and who agreed to participate in the study were assessed at the baseline and the 52’nd week using the “Short Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire” (SIBDQ), “Patient Health Questionnaire” (PHQ-9), “Work Productivity and Activity Index” (WPAI), and “Rating IBD patient concerns” (RFIPC). Disease activation was assessed using the “Simple Clinical Colitis Activity Index” for UC and the “Harvey Bradshaw Index” for CD. Patient’s age, gender, comorbidities, extraintestinal involvement, number of biological agents, and history of IBD-related surgeries were Results 54 patients who completed the 52’nd week of treatment were evaluated (25 UC, 29 CD). The mean age was 39.5 ± 14.4 years and 50% of them were male. The median disease duration was 5 years (min:1 year, max:24 years). 29% had used two or more biological agents before ustekinumab. Extraintestinal involvement was present in 15% and non-IBD comorbidities were present in 27%. Between the initial and the 52’nd week, significant decreases in PHQ9, RFIPC and WPAI scores (p = 0.022, p = 0.002, p 0.001), and a significant increase in SIBDQ total score (p 0.001) were detected. The results for UC and CD were similar. No significant differences were observed with respect to age, disease duration, level of education, marital status, presence of extraintestinal involvement, or chronic diseases. Although the total score of females was lower than males only in SIBDQ (p = 0.03), the scores of other questionnaires were similar (p 0.05). Except for a limited positive correlation between CH severity and WPAI (p = 0.05), no significant correlation was observed between the total scores of any questionnaire and either the UC or CH severity. Conclusion It was determined that the 52’nd week of Ustekinumab treatment had an effect on the quality of life and workforce productivity of the patients. References: 1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37139642/ 2. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35834389/ Conflict of interest: Dr. Harput, Zekiye Nur: No conflict of interest aydın, mehmet kasım: No conflict of interest bayraktar, oktay: No conflict of interest Sezgin, Orhan: none
Harput et al. (Thu,) studied this question.