Last update:
16-Sep-2004

OBJECTIVE Validation of the Greek version of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (GIBDQ), by assessment of its construct validity, discriminant ability, reliability and sensitivity to change.

METHOD A cohort of 114 patients with inflammatory bowel disease, 69 with ulcerative colitis (UC), 45 with Crohn's disease (CD), completed the GIBDQ twice within a period of 6-8 weeks, the SF-36 and a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for general well-being. Disease activity was assessed by the Harvey-Bradshaw Index in CD patients and by the Colitis Activity Index in the patients with UC.

RESULTS Correlations between the scores of GIBDQ, SF-36, VAS were high in CD and reasonable in UC. GIBDQ was able to discriminate between patients who were thought to be considerably unwell and those who were well. High correlations were observed between first and second measurements of the GIBDQ in patients who reported no change in general well-being over the intervening period. In contrast, significant differences were observed between the two sets of measurements in those patients who reported change.

CONCLUSIONS The GIBDQ proved to be a valid and sensitive instrument for quality of life assessment in clinical trials, in Greek patients with IBD. It is concluded that it may be used in multicenter, multinational clinical trials.

Key words: Crohn's disease, Health-related quality of life, Inflammatory bowel disease, Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire, Ulcerative colitis.