Telemedicine for management of inflammatory bowel disease (myIBDcoach): a pragmatic, multicentre, randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Tight and personalised control of inflammatory bowel disease in a traditional setting is challenging because of the disease complexity, high pressure on outpatient clinics, and rising incidence. We compared the effects of self-management with a telemedicine system, which was developed for all subtypes of inflammatory bowel disease, on health-care utilisation and patient-reported quality of care versus standard care. METHODS: We did this pragmatic, randomised trial in two academic and two non-academic hospitals in the Netherlands. Outpatients aged 18-75 years with inflammatory bowel disease and without an ileoanal or ileorectal pouch anastomosis, who had internet access and Dutch proficiency, were randomly assigned (1:1) to care via a telemedicine system (myIBDcoach) that monitors and registers disease activity or standard care and followed up for 12 months. Randomisation was done with a computer-generated sequence and used the minimisation method. Participants, health-care providers, and staff who assessed outcome measures were not masked to treatment allocation. Primary outcomes were the number of outpatient visits and patient-reported quality of care (assessed by visual analogue scale score 0-10). Safety endpoints were the numbers of flares, corticosteroid courses, hospital admissions, emergency visits, and surgeries. Analyses were by intention to treat. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02173002. FINDINGS: Between Sept 9, 2014, and May 18, 2015, 909 patients were randomly assigned to telemedicine (n=465) or standard care (n=444). At 12 months, the mean number of outpatient visits to the gastroenterologist or nurse was significantly lower in the telemedicine group (1·55 [SD 1·50]) than in the standard care group (2·34 [1·64]; difference -0·79 [95% CI -0·98 to -0·59]; p<0·0001), as was the mean number of hospital admissions (0·05 [0·28] vs 0·10 [0·43]; difference -0·05 [-0·10 to 0·00]; p=0·046). At 12 months, both groups reported high mean patient-reported quality of care scores (8·16 [1·37] in the telemedicine group vs 8·27 [1·28] in the standard care group; difference 0·10 [-0·13 to 0·32]; p=0·411). The mean numbers of flares, corticosteroid courses, emergency visits, and surgeries did not differ between groups. INTERPRETATION: Telemedicine was safe and reduced outpatient visits and hospital admissions compared with standard care. This self-management tool might be useful for reorganising care of inflammatory bowel disease towards personalised and value-based health care. FUNDING: Maastricht University Medical Centre and Ferring.

Treatment goals in IBD: A perspective from patients and their partners.

Objective: To identify and compare treatment goals between IBD patients and partners, and how these change upon receiving information. Methods: During a patient information day a self-made survey was distributed before and after a lecture about a physicians' view on treatments goals. Patients and partners were asked for their preferred treatment goals at 6 weeks and at 6 months and could choose between short-term goals (symptom free, improved functioning, better QOL, normal colonoscopy) and long-term goals (prevention of surgery, complications, flares and no steroids). Results: Being "symptom-free" (55.9%) was the preferred goal. Patients with higher disease activity chose more short-term goals (p=0.03) at 6 weeks. Age, gender and education did not affect treatment goals. Partners chose more short-term goals (p=0.03) at 6 weeks. Post-lecture, answers shifter to normal colonoscopy (4.2% versus 18.0%, p=0.001), and a better QOL (21.2% vs 33.3%, p=0.039) as goal at 6-months. Conclusions: Patients' 6-week treatment goals focused on being symptom-free and having a high QOL, especially those patients with high disease activity. Partners chose more short-term goals than patients at 6 weeks. Innovation: General health information can be applied and translated into treatment goals. This may assist in remote shared goal setting and decision making.

Novel Perceived Stress and Life Events Precede Flares of Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Prospective 12-Month Follow-Up Study.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Inflammatory bowel disease [IBD] is characterized by recurrent disease flares. The impact of psychosocial wellbeing on the occurrence of flares is unclear. In this prospective study, we aimed to evaluate the association between patient-reported psychosocial wellbeing and disease flares using continuous monitoring. METHODS: Consecutive IBD patients were recruited from the myIBDcoach telemedicine study cohort. Over 12 months, participants reported on disease activity together with anxiety, depression, fatigue, perceived stress and life events every 1-3 months. Flares were defined using a combination of clinical disease activity and additional measurements. Generalized estimating equation models were used to assess associations between psychosocial wellbeing and flares over time. The influences of both the presence of psychosocial symptoms in general as well as novel psychosocial symptoms were analysed. RESULTS: In total, 417 patients were included. Forty-nine patients [11.8%] experienced a flare during the study period. The occurrence of life events in the preceding 3 months was positively associated with flares (odds ratio [OR] = 1.81; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.04-3.17), while the presence of anxiety, depression, fatigue and perceived stress in general was not. However, novel perceived stress [OR = 2.92; 95% CI = 1.44-5.90] was associated with flares. CONCLUSIONS: The occurrence of life events and novel perceived stress are associated with disease flares in the next 3 months, while the presence of perceived stress in general is not. These findings underline the importance of continuous personalized monitoring of IBD patients and may contribute to the prevention of disease flares.

Risk of impaired nutritional status and flare occurrence in IBD outpatients.

BACKGROUND: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients are at risk of an impaired nutritional status. The impact thereof on the IBD relapse risk is clinically relevant, though sparsely investigated. AIM: The aim was to explore the association between an impaired nutritional status risk and the occurrence of disease flares in IBD outpatients participating in a longitudinal telemedicine study. METHODS: IBD outpatients were recruited from the myIBDcoach study cohort, with one year clinical follow-up. Through myIBDcoach, a telemedicine tool, patients reported on disease activity and risk of impaired nutritional status (i.e. Short Nutritional Assessment Questionnaire >1 and/or BMI < 18.5 kg/m2) every one to three months. Data was analysed by generalized estimating equation modelling. RESULTS: In total, 417 patients were included. During follow-up, 49 patients (11.8%) flared after initial clinical remission and 53 patients (12.7%) showed an increased risk of impaired nutritional status. The risk of impaired nutritional status was associated with flare occurrence (OR 2.61 (95% CI 1.02-6.69)). CONCLUSIONS: The risk of an impaired nutritional status was associated with subsequent flares in IBD outpatients. This emphasizes the importance of monitoring disease activity in IBD patients at risk of impaired nutritional status.

Genomic and Expression Analyses Identify a Disease-Modifying Variant for Fibrostenotic Crohn's Disease.

Background and Aims: Crohn's disease [CD] is a chronic inflammatory disease with unpredictable behaviour. More than half of CD patients eventually develop complications such as stenosis, for which they then require endoscopic dilatation or surgery, as no anti-fibrotic drugs are currently available. We aim to identify disease-modifying genes associated with fibrostenotic CD. Methods: We performed a within-case analysis comparing 'extreme phenotypes' using the Immunochip and replication of the top single nucleotide polymorphisms [SNPs] with Agena Bioscience in two independent case-control cohorts totalling 322 cases with fibrostenotis [recurrent after surgery] and 619 cases with purely inflammatory CD. Results: Combined meta-analysis resulted in a genome-wide significant signal for SNP rs11861007 [p = 6.0910-11], located on chromosome 16, in lncRNA RP11-679B19.1, an lncRNA of unknown function, and close to exon 9 of the WWOX gene, which codes for WW domain-containing oxidoreductase. We analysed mRNA expression of TGF-ß and downstream genes in ileocecal resection material from ten patients with and without the WWOX risk allele. Patients carrying the risk allele [A] showed enhanced colonic expression of TGF-ß compared to patients homozygous for the wild-type [G] allele [p = 0.0079]. Conclusion: We have identified a variant in WWOX and in lncRNA RP11-679B19.1 as a disease-modifying genetic variant associated with recurrent fibrostenotic CD and replicated this association in an independent cohort. WWOX can potentially play a crucial role in fibrostenosis in CD, being positioned at the crossroads of inflammation and fibrosis.

Influence of combination therapy with immune modulators on anti-TNF trough levels and antibodies in patients with IBD.

BACKGROUND: It is important to identify factors that can reduce the incidence of immunogenicity against anti-tumor necrosis factor medication in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. The objective of our study was to evaluate the influence of cotreatment with immune modulators (IMs) on trough levels (TLs) and antidrug antibodies. METHODS: The records of all patients with inflammatory bowel disease at the Leiden University Medical Center who received either adalimumab or infliximab (IFX) in the year 2011 and/or 2012 (n = 352) were retrospectively evaluated about the assessment of TL and antibodies and use of IM. RESULTS: Two hundred seventeen patients were included (108 patients IFX; 109 patients adalimumab). Mean TL in the IFX group was higher in the combination therapy group compared with the monotherapy group, 4.6 versus 7.5 µg/mL, P = 0.04. In the adalimumab group, the difference was not significant. In patients with IFX monotherapy, the incidence of antibody formation was higher compared with patients with combination therapy (29.8% versus 5.7%, P = 0.001). IFX patients with a suboptimal dose of IM had a higher TL compared with patients who had an optimal dose, P = 0.02. The incidence of antibody formation was lower in IFX patients who immediately started with IMs compared with patients who did not (33.3% versus 66.7%, P = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: The influence of combination therapy with IM on TL and antibodies to anti-tumor necrosis factor medication was significant for IFX-treated patients. Patients who started combination therapy immediately developed antibodies less often than patients who started later with concomitant medication.