The identification of topics for research that are important to people with ulcerative colitis.

Objectives: To identify topics for research that are important to people with ulcerative colitis, and to provide a framework by which their research priorities can be analysed.

Methods: This is a qualitative study using focus groups and interviews. Forty people with ulcerative colitis participated.

Factors associated with the development of post-infectious functional gastrointestinal diseases: does smoking play a role?

Objectives: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is associated with psychological stress, alterations in gut motor function and/or visceral perception. Previous studies suggest 7-32% of people develop IBS after bacterial gastroenteritis but the exact mechanisms underlying post-infectious IBS are not clear. The present study's aim was to examine the role of possible causative factors in the development of post-infectious functional gastro-intestinal disorders (FGIDs), including IBS.

Predictors of quality of life in ulcerative colitis: the importance of symptoms and illness representations.

Background: Establishing predictors of quality of life (QoL) in individuals with inflammatory bowel disease could help to identify those patients who are most likely to experience poor QoL and to target therapeutic interventions appropriately. We aimed to investigate how disease-specific QoL depends on demographic, diseaserelated, and physiological markers of disease activity, cognitive representations of illness, and perceived general health status.

Methods: A total of 111 individuals completed the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (IBDQ), the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), and the Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ).

Quality improvement programme to achieve acceptable colonoscopy completion rates: prospective before and after study.

Problem: A large audit of colonoscopy in the United Kingdom showed that the unadjusted completion rate was 57% when stringent criteria for identifying the caecum were applied. The caecum should be reached 90% of the time. Little information is available on what units or operators need to do to improve to acceptable levels.

Dietary beliefs of people with ulcerative colitis and their effect on relapse and nutrient intake.

Background & Aims: Ulcerative colitis usually follows a relapsing and remitting course. Patients believe that dietary factors are important. We wished to determine the nature of and reasons for patients' dietary beliefs and their effect on relapse and nutrient intake.

Illness perceptions in people with acute bacterial gastro-enteritis.

Functional gastro-intestinal disorders (FGID) like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) are common and can develop after gastro-enteritis. Illness representations may be important influences on the development of post-infectious FGIDs. Here, we studied both the relationship between prior chronic symptoms (FGIDs) and illness perception during an acute illness (bacterial gastro-enteritis) as well as the relationship between illness perception during an acute illness (bacterial gastro-enteritis) and the subsequent development of chronic abdominal symptoms.

Does bacterial gastroenteritis predispose people to functional gastrointestinal disorders? A prospective, community-based, case-control study.

Objectives: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) might develop after gastroenteritis. Most previous studies of this relationship have been uncontrolled, and little is known regarding other functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) after gastroenteritis. The primary aim of this study was to determine the frequency of IBS, functional dyspepsia, or functional diarrhea 6 months after bacterial gastroenteritis.

Is irritable bowel syndrome more common in patients presenting with bacterial gastroenteritis? A community-based, case-control study.

Objective: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) has been reported to follow infectious diarrhea. Food-borne infections affect 76 million people in the United States and 9.4 million in England per year; of these, only a small percentage of patients see their doctor, and even fewer will have stool culture confirmation.

Is lactose intolerance implicated in the development of post-infectious irritable bowel syndrome or functional diarrhoea in previously asymptomatic people?

Objective: The relationship between lactose intolerance and post-infectious irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in adults is uncertain. Bowel symptoms may persist after bacterial gastroenteritis and as post-infectious IBS. Acquired lactose intolerance may follow viral enteric infections in children.

Push enteroscopy in a UK district general hospital: experience of 51 cases over 2 years.

Objectives: To determine the number of patients referred for enteroscopy in a district general hospital (DGH), the indication, enteroscopic +/- histological diagnosis, and to compare findings with other series from tertiary referral centres or outside the UK.

Design: Retrospective case series over a 2-year period.

Results: In the 2-year period, 52 patients were referred for enteroscopy.