IBD-Disk as a tool estimating the prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease-related disability and associated influencing factors in Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional study.

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) disk is an easy tool to use in clinical practice to measure IBD-related disability, with a score >40 correlating with high daily-life burden. Its use has been limited mainly to the western world. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of IBD-related disability and evaluate the associated risk factors in Saudi Arabia. Methods: In this cross sectional study conducted at a tertiary referral center for IBD, the English IBD disk was translated into Arabic, and patients with IBD were approached to complete it. Total IBD disk score (0 = no disability; 100 = severe disability) was documented and a score of >40 was set as a threshold to estimate the prevalence of disability. Results: Eighty patients with a mean age of 32.5 ± 11.9 years and disease duration of 6 years, including 57% females, were analyzed. The mean IBD-disk total score was 20.70 ± 18.69. The mean subscores for each function within the disk ranged from 0.38 ± 1.69 for sexual functions to 3.61 ± 3.29 for energy. The overall prevalence of IBD-related disability was 19% (15/80 scoring >40) and was much higher in active disease, in males and in IBD of long duration (39%, 24%, and 26%, respectively). A clinically active disease, high CRP, and high calprotectin were strongly associated with higher disk scores. Conclusion: Although the overall mean IBD disk score was low, nearly 19% of our population had high scores signifying a high prevalence of disability. As demonstrated by other studies, active disease and high biomarkers were significantly associated with higher IBD-disk scores.

A Regional Survey of Awareness of Inflammatory Bowel Disease among the Saudi Population.

Introduction: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is common worldwide, including the gulf region. Early diagnosis of IBD can improve patients' outcomes. However, early diagnosis is dependent on patients' awareness of the disease to seek medical advice. This study aimed to survey the awareness of IBD in the general population of the western region of Saudi Arabia. Methods: A questionnaire about Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) was distributed to the general public. A score of 1 was given for the right response and 0 for an incorrect response, giving a maximum of 3 and a minimum of 0 for the three questions in the questionnaire. Results: 1,304 participants responded. Twenty nine percentage had not heard or read about CD, while 19% had not heard or read about UC. The mean awareness level score was 1.72 ± 1.19. Females showed a significantly higher score compared to males (p < 0.001). The age-group 31 to 40 had the highest score (p = 0.002). Moreover, responders who had a PhD. showed significantly higher scores than those with other educational degrees (p < 0.001). Responders who dealt with CD or UC patients showed significantly higher scores than their peers (p < 0.001) for both. Conclusion: The general population in Saudi Arabia has an unacceptable level of awareness of IBD. Females, young adults (age-group: 31-40 years), educated individuals (with a PhD), and those who had dealt with IBD patients previously had better awareness compared to the rest of the population. National acts are essential to improve public awareness toward the disease.

Histologic remission does not offer additional benefit for ulcerative colitis patients in endoscopic remission.

BACKGROUND: Histologic remission in ulcerative colitis (UC) patients may be associated with positive outcomes. It is unclear whether UC patients in endoscopic remission obtain additional benefit from achieving histologic remission. AIM: To evaluate the relationship between time to relapse and histological activity among UC patients in endoscopic remission. METHODS: In this retrospective study using an observational database, we identified UC patients who had achieved endoscopic remission (Mayo endoscopic subscore 0). Index colonoscopy was the first colonoscopy when endoscopic remission was achieved. Histologic activity was classified as normal, inactive or active colitis. The primary outcome was time to relapse. Secondary outcomes included reasons for relapse and the association between baseline variables and risk of relapse. A Cox proportional hazards model evaluated baseline factors and the outcome of relapse. RESULTS: We included 269 patients. The Kaplan-Meier survival curve showed no significant difference between the presence or absence of histologic activity and time to relapse (log rank P = 0.85). There was no difference in time to clinical relapse of patients with histologically active colitis compared to inactive colitis (adjusted hazard ratio [AHR] 1.17, 95% CI 0.58-2.32, P = 0.67]). 5-aminosalicylate use (AHR 0.42, 95% CI 0.21-0.82, P = 0.011), pancolitis (AHR 0.32, 95% CI 0.13-0.75, P = 0.008), left-sided colitis (AHR 0.46; 95% CI 0.22-0.98; P = 0.044) and older age (AHR 0.96, 95% CI 0.94-0.99, P = 0.002) were significantly associated with reduced time to clinical relapse. CONCLUSION: Histologic remission did not influence time to relapse in UC patients who had achieved endoscopic remission.