Quality of life in adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease and their parents--comparison with healthy controls.

OBJECTIVE: Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are chronic diseases with a significant impact on quality of life (QoL). The aim of the study was to examine the QoL in children with IBD and their families, depression and anxiety for both the children and their parents.

METHODS: Participants were 29 adolescents with IBD (19 individuals suffered from the Crohn disease, another ten had ulcerative colitis) and 40 healthy controls of the same age (13-16 years). The probands and their parents completed questionnaires measuring the quality of life (KidScreen-10, PedsQL), depression (CDI, BDI-II), and anxiety (SAD, BAI).

RESULTS: The QoL measured by questionnaires did not differ between the adolescent participants, but it was significantly lower in the parents of the children with IBD than in the parents of the healthy controls. The parents of the IBD children scored lower in the Family Impact Module Total Scale Score and the parental Health-Related QoL Summary Score. The fathers of the IBD children also had a lower level of the Family Functioning Summary Score. There wasn't any difference in the levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms among the IBD adolescents and the controls.

CONCLUSIONS: The parents of the children with IBD experience lower QoL than the parents with the healthy children. The children with IBD show similar symptoms of depression, anxiety, and QoL as the healthy controls.