THE PSYCHOSOCIAL FUNCTIONING OF PATIENTS WITH INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE IN EARLY ADULTHOOD IS IMPAIRED

• Author / Creator

  Kroeker, Karen I

• Inflammatory bowel disease is a chronic disease that is often diagnosed in childhood and adolescence. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of a diagnosis of IBD on the psychosocial functioning in early adulthood. This was a questionnaire-based cross-sectional study comparing patients with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis to healthy controls. Overall, unlike other childhood illness the milestone development of IBD patients is not hampered compared to healthy controls. IBD patients age 18-30 have higher mean depression scores than healthy controls (9.2 v. 6.0, difference in means =3.2, [1.31, 5.05], p=0.001); this difference was not only due to somatic or physical symptoms, but also due to increased cognitive/affective symptoms. IBD patients report 4X more hours of absenteeism per month than healthy controls (15.7 v. 4.3 hours, difference in means = 11.4, [0.92, 21.9], p=0.03). A younger age of diagnosis is associated with poorer autonomy development.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Milestone Development
  • Childhood Diagnosis
  • Inflammatory Bowel Disease
  • Workplace Functioning
  • Depression

• Graduation date

  Fall 2012

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3JP8R

• 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.