The Crohn's Disease Activity Index, its derivatives and the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire: A review of instruments to assess Crohn's disease

The Crohn's Disease Activity Index (CDAI) has been used to measure Crohn's activity for over a quarter of a century. The development of the CDAI is re viewed and its reliability and validity are examined. instruments used to a ssess Crohn's disease that were developed subsequent to the CDAI, including the Harvey-Bradshaw Index, the Cape Town Index and a three-variable versio n of the CDAI (modified for survey research), are similarly reviewed. The m ost recent instrument to assess Crohn's disease, the Inflammatory Bowel Dis ease Questionnaire, which assesses patients in the domains of bowel, system ic, emotional and social function, is also discussed.