EVALUATION OF THE RFIPC, A DISEASE-SPECIFIC HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY-OF-LIFE QUESTIONNAIRE, IN SWEDISH PATIENTS WITH ULCERATIVE-COLITIS

Background: We wanted to characterize a Swedish version of the Rating Form of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patient Concerns (RFIPC) with regar d to validity, reliability, and responsiveness. Methods: Two hundred a nd three consecutive patients with ulcerative colitis were studied. He alth-related quality of life (HRQOL) was measured with the disease-spe cific questionnaire, the RFIPC, and a general questionnaire, the Sickn ess Impact Profile (SIP). Concerns about general well-being were also reported. Disease activity was measured by means of symptom cards, lab oratory tests, and two clinical indices for disease activity. Results: Test-retest reliability using Spearman's r (rs) was 0.79, and interna l consistency measured with Cronbach's alpha was 0.95. RFIPC had a fai r correlation with concerns about general well-being (rs = 0.69, P < 0 .001). There was also a stronger correlation with another measure of H RQOL, the overall SIP score (rs = 0.43), than with measures of disease activity such as stool frequency (rs = 0.28) and sigmoidoscopic gradi ng (NS). The group of patients in relapse had a higher RFIPC sum score than patients in remission (P = 0.001). Measures of HRQOL had a low c orrelation with disease activity and did not respond to changes in dis ease activity. Conclusion: The Swedish version of the RFIPC is a valid and reliable measure of HRQOL. The SIP and the RFIPC have a good disc riminative ability between groups of patients in remission and in rela pse. However, they do not seem to be useful in predicting the disease activity or change in disease activity over time in the individual pat ient.