NUTRITIONAL ASSESSMENT AND DISEASE-ACTIVITY FOR PATIENTS WITH INFLAMMATORY BOWEL-DISEASE

Using the Harvard/Willett Semi-Quantitative Food Frequency Questionnai re (H/WSQFFQ), nutritional information was gathered on patients enroll ed in an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) registry. The registry lists 320 patients positive for either ulcerative colitis (n = 124) or Croh n's disease (n = 196). The sample was limited to those 19 to 84 years old (mean +/- SD 48.57 +/- 14.98), and comprised 136 males and 184 fem ales. Using a battery of indices, quality of life, disease activity an d general well-being were also assessed. Nutritional intake values fro m the Harvard-Willett data were compared with recommended dietary allo wances (RDA) tables by sex and age group (19 to 24 years, 25 to 50, 51 and older) to discover any intake deficiences. Results showed that IB D patients were below RDA guidelines for vitamin E, calcium, magnesium , zinc, iodine and selenium. Females were below RDA guidelines for iro n while men were below for vitamin B-6. There were also some deficienc ies according to age in males and two nutrient deficiencies were seen by age group in women. There were no deficiencies by sex or age for vi tamins A, C, D and niacin. There were no observed nutrient intake diff erences between ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease groups. Patient s receiving vitamin or mineral supplement showed significant decreases in quality of life, regardless of diagnosis (Crohn's disease or ulcer ative colitis) group. The H/WSQFFQ is a useful tool for assessment of the nutritional status of the IBD patient because it not only provides valuable measurement data to the clinician, but adds to patient aware ness about nutritional problems associated with IBD.