Education, Employment, Income, and Marital Status Among Adults Diagnosed With Inflammatory Bowel Diseases During Childhood or Adolescence

Background & Aims We aimed to assess levels of education attained, employment, and marital status of adults diagnosed with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) during childhood or adolescence, compared with healthy individuals in Canada. Methods We performed a cross-sectional study of adults diagnosed with IBD in childhood or adolescence at Children’s Hospital in Winnipeg, Manitoba from January 1978 through December 2007. Participants (n = 112) answered a semi-structured questionnaire on educational achievements, employment, and marital status. Patients were matched for age and sex with random healthy individuals from the 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey (controls, 5 per patient). Conditional binary logistic regression and random-effects ordinal logistic regression models were used for analysis. Results Patients were followed for a mean duration of 14.3 years (range, 3.1–34.5 years). Persons with IBD were more likely to earn more money per annum and attain a post-secondary school degree or receive a diploma than controls (odds ratio, 1.72; 95% confidence interval, 1.13–2.60; P < .01 and odds ratio, 2.73; 95% confidence interval, 1.48–5.04; P < .01, respectively). There was no significant difference between patients and controls in employment or marital status. Conclusions Adults diagnosed with IBD during childhood seem to achieve higher education levels than individuals without IBD. This observation should provide reassurance to children with IBD and their parents. ClinicalTrials.gov number: NCT02152241.