How do psychological variables influence coping strategies in inflammatory bowel disease?

Background: Adjusting to chronic disease is a complex process and one that, in the case of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), has received very little attention. The objectives of this study were to identify coping strategies used by patients with IBD and to explore how these strategies are related to psychological characteristics.

Methods: A transversal study was designed in which 875 patients with IBD were prospectively enrolled.

Influence of alexithymia on health-related quality of life in inflammatory bowel disease: are there any related factors?

Objective: Alexithymia is a personality trait characterized by difficulty to perceive and express emotions. Previous studies have indicated a high prevalence of alexithymia in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) but results have been inconsistent. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of alexithymia in a large IBD cohort and to establish the impact of alexithymia on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in these patients.

Repression and coping styles in asthmatic patients.

The objectives of this study were to (a) determine prevalence of the dispositional repressive coping style as well as other situational coping styles in a sample of asthmatic patients and (b) to analyze the capacity of these styles to predict subsequent morbidity (emergency room visits or hospitalizations due to asthma) during a 12-month follow-up. A sample of 75 adult asthmatic patients was selected and information about sociodemographics, asthma severity, and patient's perception of illness severity was collected. Repressive coping style was defined by a combination of scores obtained on the Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale.

[Cultural adaptation into Spanish of the Airways Questionnaire 20, a short health-related quality-of-life questionnaire for the clinical evaluation of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease].

Background And Objectives: The routine use of health-related quality-of-life questionnaires in patients with chronic respiratory disease is limited due to the time required to complete them. The Airways Questionnaire 20 (AQ20) contains 20 easy-to-answer questions, making it ideal for use in routine practice. However, a Spanish version is not available.