Effective disease management in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which encompasses Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, is incredibly important. Managing your condition helps you maintain a better quality-of-life, reduces uncomfortable or debilitating symptoms, lowers the need for emergency care or hospitalization, and supports stronger mental health. 

Many people rely on various therapies to control their IBD: corticosteroids, immunosuppressants or immunomodulators, antibiotics, and anti-inflammatory medications. However, reports an article in Physician’s Weekly, people with inflammatory bowel disease often have suboptimal disease control. Dr. Jesse Siffledeen MD, MSc, FRCPC is quoted as stating that IBD-related symptoms might not always correspond with how severe the inflammation is, so it’s important to find other ways to monitor inflammation to help those affected. 

Studying Disease Control and Management in IBD 

The article discusses how researchers sought to understand IBD control in Canadian patients using Selecting Therapeutic Targets in Inflammatory Bowel Disease II (STRIDE-II) criteria. In their findings, published in Digestive Diseases and Sciences, the researchers discuss the study, which included 87 adults with Crohn’s disease and 76 adults with ulcerative colitis. The study also included self-reported questionnaires from both patients and physicians. Researchers found that: 

• 45 participants with Crohn’s disease did not have well-controlled disease when considering STRIDE-II criteria. Similarly, 33 participants with ulcerative colitis had poorly-controlled disease. 
• Despite the fact that almost half of all participants had poorly-controlled disease, many of them believed their disease was well-controlled. Only 12 people with Crohn’s disease and 13 with ulcerative colitis considered their disease control as suboptimal, and physicians believed the numbers to be 17 and 19 respectively. This highlights a lack of awareness and misconceptions about patient health. 
• To identify suboptimal disease control, patients and physicians can look at factors such as failure to reduce fecal calprotectin or normalize C-reactive protein, impaired quality-of-life, anemia (low red blood cell counts) or perianal disease, and inability to achieve or meet clinical remission. 

Moving forward, the research team believes that more research is necessary. This research can identify the gaps in inflammatory bowel disease care, as well as where treatment approaches can become more standardized. The research team also suggests more education around the impact of IBD and where patients may not be meeting criteria for optimal health.