QUALITY-OF-LIFE ISSUES IN PATIENTS WITH INFLAMMATORY BOWEL-DISEASE

The assessment of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) plays an incr easingly important role in the evaluation of therapeutic interventions in various chronic diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease (LE D), There are three main types of HRQOL instruments, each of which hav e specific strengths and limitations, Global assessments provide a gen eral impression of the patient's HRQOL, but they do not identify speci fic domains of dysfunction, Generic instruments can be used to show si milarities or differences among groups or populations, but they may no t be sensitive to changes over time or after treatment in groups of pa tients with specific diseases, Disease-specific instruments, which are derived from and validated in particular disease groups, are the most sensitive indicators of change in HRQOL over time or with treatment, There are several potential sources of bias in HRQOL measurement, and certain instruments are more or less sensitive and reliable than other s in detecting impaired function in patients with LED. Despite differe nces between studies regarding specific HRQOL findings, as a group, th ese assessments confirm that HRQOL can be impaired significantly in pa tients,vith IBD, Reliable validated HRQOL instruments should be applie d with the same methodological rigor as other assessments in clinical trials of different therapeutic strategies for patients with IBD.