Objective: Symptoms associated with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) have a negative impact on quality of life. The purpose of this study was to assess the quality of life in a large group of Finnish IBD patients and to compare it with that observed in a recent survey covering several other European countries.
Material and methods: The European Federation of Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis Associations (EFCCA) questionnaire, comprising questions about IBD symptoms, diagnosis, therapy, extraintestinal manifestations and their impact on patients' quality of life, was sent to 3852 members of the Finnish Crohn and Colitis Association. The response rate was 63%.
Results: IBD was diagnosed by a specialist in over 96% of cases and 94% of patients were continuously followed-up by a specialist. Fifty-eight percent of the patients had had IBD symptoms for over a year before consulting a specialist. The frequency of symptoms was lower in the Finnish patients and 93% of patients were satisfied with their current treatment compared with 76% in the European survey. For Crohn's disease, the rate of surgery was lower than that in the European survey (43% versus 52%). The patients reported improved quality of life after surgery, but 67% of patients with Crohn's disease and 34% with ulcerative colitis reported recurrence of symptoms. Comorbidity with ankylosing spondylitis was 22 times more common than in the general Finnish population and 49% of the patients suffered from joint pain.
Conclusions: Finnish IBD patients are more satisfied with their treatment than those studied in the European survey. In Finland, gastroenterologists are usually responsible for the care, but the delay before the diagnosis remains long.