Assessment of disease specific knowledge and health-related quality of life among United States military veterans with inflammatory bowel disease.

Aim: To evaluate the association between patient disease knowledge of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and health related quality of life (HRQoL) and identify patient and disease related predictors of patient knowledge of IBD.

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study of IBD patients with an established diagnosis of IBD longer than 3 mo prior to enrollment. The Crohn's and colitis knowledge score (CCKNOW) and short inflammatory bowel disease questionnaire (SIBDQ) were self-administered to assess patient knowledge of IBD and HRQoL, respectively. Demographic and disease characteristics were abstracted from the electronic medical record. The correlation between CCKNOW and SIBDQ scores was assessed by a linear regression model. Associations of patient knowledge and the variables of interest were calculated using ANOVA.

Results: A total of 101 patients were recruited. Caucasian race, younger age at diagnosis, and having a college or post-graduate degree were significantly associated with higher CCKNOW scores. Patients with CD had higher CCKNOW scores compared to patients with ulcerative colitis and inflammatory bowel disease type unclassified, P < 0.01. There was no significant correlation between overall CCKNOW and SIBDQ scores (r (2) = 0.34, P = 0.13). The knowledge sub-domain of diet in CCKNOW was negatively correlated with HRQoL (r (2) = 0.69, P < 0.01).

Conclusion: IBD diagnosis at a younger age in addition to Caucasian race and higher education were significantly associated with higher knowledge about IBD. However, patient knowledge of IBD was not correlated with HRQoL. Further studies are required to study the effect of patient knowledge of IBD on other clinical outcomes.