Inflammatory bowel diseases have an important impact on the daily life of patients. This impact can be measured by the evaluation of the health related quality of life. The aim of this study was to develop and to validate a questionnaire of quality of life in a French population.
Methods: The questionnaire comprised 70 items and was completed in 15 min. It was made up of a) a general questionnaire of 36 items (SF-36) exploring daily physical and social functioning, mental and general health, body pain and vitality. A sleep module of 6 items was added. b) a specific questionnaire of 28 items (RFIPC), exploring the concerns of the patients. The questionnaire was self-administered to 101 patients with Crohn's disease (57 F. 44 M. mean age: 35 years, acute disease: 28%, inpatients: 27%), 96 patients with ulcerative colitis (38 F. 58 M. mean age: 39 years, acute disease: 53%, inpatients: 21%). Each patient was sex and age matched with a healthy control.
Results: The psychometric analysis confirmed the validation of the questionnaire for the item's convergent validity, internal consistency (Cronbach's coefficient being > 0.70), analyses of discrimination. Scores of each scale of SF-36 were worse in patients than in controls. Scores of patients with active disease were worse than those of patients with quiescent disease. Scores were comparable in patients with Crohn's disease and with ulcerative colitis except for score of pain which was worse in acute Crohn's disease. The most important concerns of patients were the uncertain nature of the disease, energy level and having surgery.
Conclusion: This study allowed the validation of a questionnaire for the evaluation of the quality of life in French patients with inflammatory bowel disease and provides first indications which need to be confirmed by future epidemiological studies.