WB: Patient Characteristics Impact Disease Management in Ulcerative Colitis

Patients with ulcerative colitis (UC)experience “substantial” differences in disease management and health-care based on demographics and psychological comorbidities, according to results from the UC Narrative global survey that were published in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases. Remo Panaccione, MD, and colleagues assessed responses from 1,000 patients according to income, employment, education, age, sex, and psychological comorbidities.
Compared with high-income patients, low-income patients were less likely to have participated in peer
mentoring (OR, 0.30) or UC education programs (OR, 0.51). Those who were unemployed were less likely to
report “good/excellent” health (OR, 0.58), and patients with low educational levels were less likely to
have contacted patient organizations (OR, 0.59). Patients younger than 50 were less likely to have had an
appointment at an IBD clinic in the previous 12 months (OR, 0.53), and men were less likely to currently be seeing a
gastroenterologist (OR, 0.66). Patients with de- pression were less likely to agree that UC had
made them more resilient (OR, 0.51). These differences “may help healthcare providers better
understand and advance health equity to improve patient
care,” Dr. Panaccione and colleagues wrote.