Reproductive Knowledge Specific to Inflammatory Bowel Disease Among Women with IBD and Physicians who Treat Women with IBD

• Author / Creator

  Huang, Vivian Wai-Mei

• BACKGROUND: Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) affects women in their reproductive years. Women with IBD often choose not to have children, and this voluntary childlessness may be due to their concerns regarding the adverse effects of their IBD and its treatment on fertility, pregnancy, and the newborn. Patients often obtain information from their physicians, yet physician IBD-specific reproductive knowledge has not been well studied.
  OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to characterize the relationship between IBD-specific reproductive knowledge and childlessness among women with IBD, and to characterize the relationship between IBD-specific reproductive knowledge and practice patterns (relative to reproductive issues) among physicians who treat women with IBD. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional survey of women with IBD (18 to 45 years old) and of physicians who treat women with IBD. IBD-specific reproductive knowledge was measured on a 0-17 point scale by the Crohn’s and Colitis Pregnancy Knowledge (CCPKnow) survey with scores grouped as: poor (0 to 7), adequate (8 to 10), good (11 to 13), very good (14 to 17). Multivariable logistic regression was used to obtain adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for estimating the effects of exposure variables on the outcomes of interest.
  RESULTS and CONCLUSIONS: There was an inverse relationship between IBD-specific reproductive knowledge; increases in the CCPKnow score corresponded to decreases in the odds of childlessness. Women with IBD had significant IBD-specific reproductive knowledge deficits, concerns, and beliefs/opinions. Women with IBD often changed their family plans once they were diagnosed with IBD. Discussion of family planning with a physician, specifically with a gastroenterologist, corresponded to lower odds of having poor CCPKnow scores relative to not discussing family planning with a physician. Although almost two-thirds of physicians had very good CCPKnow scores, physician knowledge of IBD-medication use during pregnancy and breastfeeding was highly variable, revealing knowledge deficits in many physicians who treat women with IBD. The Internet was an important source of information for both women with IBD and physicians. Thus, internet-based educational activities aimed at both patients and physicians may be effective targets for improving IBD-specific reproductive knowledge among women with IBD. Improving IBD-specific reproductive knowledge among women and physicians will help ensure that women with IBD can make informed choices about having children. 

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Physician knowledge
  • Knowledge translation
  • Preconception
  • CCPKnow
  • Reproductive knowledge
  • Pregnancy
  • Patient knowledge
  • Inflammatory bowel disease

• Graduation date

  Fall 2014

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3809R

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.