Psychosomatic Therapy for High-Utilizing Crohn's Disease Patients
Author Information
Author(s): Deter Hans-Christian, Wietersheim Jörn, Jantschek Günther, Burgdorf Friederike, Blum Brigitta, Keller Wolfram
Primary Institution: Charité Campus Benjamin Franklin, Berlin, Germany
Hypothesis
Psychological and clinical factors predict health care utilization, the somatic course of disease and the health-related quality of life in CD patients.
Conclusion
Psychological treatment significantly reduces health care utilization in high-utilizing Crohn's disease patients.
Supporting Evidence
- Multivariate regression analysis identified disease activity at randomization as an important predictor of the clinical course.
- Health care utilization correlated with duration of disease.
- Patients' anxiety and depression levels predicted their health-related quality of life at the end of the study.
- Significant drop in hospital days and sick leave days was found in the treatment group compared to controls.
Takeaway
This study shows that helping Crohn's disease patients with their feelings can make them go to the hospital less often.
Methodology
A prospective multi-center investigation comparing health care utilization before and after a one-year psychological treatment.
Potential Biases
Potential bias due to the exclusion criteria and the reliance on self-reported health care utilization data.
Limitations
High dropout rate and exclusion of patients with severe psychiatric co-morbidity may limit the generalizability of the findings.
Participant Demographics
Mean age of 31.3 years, with a female preponderance (62.1%).
Statistical Information
P-Value
p<0.00001
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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