Clinical factors that impair health-related quality of life in ulcerative colitis patients vary with the disease duration

BACKGROUND AND AIMThe health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) can be impaired because of the chronic symptoms. Although UC patients suffer from such symptoms over the long term, there have been few reports on the changes of HRQOL with disease duration. The aim of this study was to clarify these changes. METHODSThe HRQOL of 331 Japanese UC patients was examined using the validated Japanese version of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (J-IBDQ). HRQOL and factors affecting HRQOL identified using multiple linear regression analysis were stratified by disease duration. RESULTSOf the 15 clinical factors examined, the clinical activity index score was the strongest determinant (P