Search

Mira Y Friedman,1,2 Maya Leventer-Roberts,3 Joseph Rosenblum,4 Nir Zigman,4 Iris Goren,4 Vered Mourad,4 Natan Lederman,5 Nurit Cohen,5 Eran Matz,6 Doron Z Dushnitzky,6 Nirit Borovsky,6 Moshe B Hoshen,3 Gili Focht,1 Malka Avitzour,1 Yael Shachar,1 Yehuda Chowers,7 Rami Eliakim,8 Shomron Ben-Horin,8 Shmuel Odes,9 Doron Schwartz,9 Iris Dotan,10 Eran Israeli,11 Zohar Levi,10 Eric I Benchimol,12–14 Ran D Balicer,3 Dan Turner1 On behalf of the Israeli IBD Research Nucleus (IIRN) 1The Juliet Keidan Institute of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel; 2Braun School of Public and Community Medicine, The Hebrew University – Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel; 3Clalit Research Institute, Chief’s Office, Clalit Health Services, Tel Aviv, Israel; 4Maccabi Healthcare Services, Tel Aviv, Israel; 5Meuhedet Health Services, Tel Aviv, Israel; 6Leumit Health Services, Tel Aviv, Israel; 7Department of Gastroenterology, Rambam Health Care Campus, Bruce Rappaport School of Medicine, Technion Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel; 8Department of Gastroenterology, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; 9Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Soroka Medical Center, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel; 10Division of Gastroenterology, Rabin Medical Center, Petah Tikva, Israel; 11Institute of Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Hadassah Medical Center, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel; 12CHEO Inflammatory Bowel Disease Centre, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, ON, Canada; 13Department of Pediatrics and School of Epidemiology, Public Health and Preventive Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada; 14Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Ottawa, ON, Canada Background: Before embarking on administrative research, validated case ascertainment algorithms must be developed. We aimed at developing algorithms for identifying inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients, date of disease onset, and IBD type (Crohn’s disease [CD] vs ulcerative colitis [UC]) in the databases of the four Israeli Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) covering 98% of the population. Methods: Algorithms were developed on 5,131 IBD patients and 2,072 controls, following independent chart review (60% CD and 39% UC). We reviewed 942 different combinations of clinical parameters aided by mathematical modeling. The algorithms were validated on an independent cohort of 160,000 random subjects. Results: The combination of the following variables achieved the highest diagnostic accuracy: IBD-related codes, alone if more than five to six codes or combined with purchases of IBD-related medications (at least three purchases or ≥3 months from the first to last purchase) (sensitivity 89%, specificity 99%, positive predictive value [PPV] 92%, negative predictive value [NPV] 99%). A look-back period of 2–5 years (depending on the HMO) without IBD-related codes or medications best determined the date of diagnosis (sensitivity 83%, specificity 68%, PPV 82%, NPV 70%). IBD type was determined by the majority of CD/UC codes of the three recent contacts or the most recent when less than three contacts were recorded (sensitivity 92%, specificity 97%, PPV 97%, NPV 92%). Applying these algorithms, a total of 38,291 IBD patients were residing in Israel, corresponding to a prevalence rate of 459/100,000 (0.46%). Conclusion: The application of the validated algorithms to Israel’s administrative databases will now create a large and accurate ongoing population-based cohort of IBD patients for future administrative studies. Keywords: inflammatory bowel diseases, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, search algorithms, validation, case ascertainment, Israel, administrative database research

Xia-peng Luo,1,* Ren Mao,1,* Bai-li Chen,1 Yun Qiu,1 Sheng-hong Zhang,1 Yao He,1 Jie Chen,1 Zhi-rong Zeng,1 Shomron Ben-Horin,2 Min-hu Chen1 1Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China; 2Department of Gastroenterology, Sheba Medical Center, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel *These authors contributed equally to this work Purpose: Many patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have impaired health-related quality of life (HRQOL). The influence of psychological and economic factors on HRQOL has not been fully elucidated in IBD. Therefore, we aimed to identify the predictors of HRQOL in an IBD cohort. Patients and methods: This was a cross-sectional cohort study of patients presenting to our tertiary IBD center. HRQOL was measured using the 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) and the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (IBDQ). Anxiety and depression were assessed by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Perceived stress and perceived social support were also assessed by standardized scales. Demographic, socioeconomic and clinical data were obtained from a prespecified questionnaire and patients’ medical records. Univariate analyses and multiple regression analysis were performed to identify predictors of HRQOL. Results: A total of 242 IBD patients were recruited, and the questionnaire return rate was 90.5% (219/242). The prevalence rates of anxiety and depression were 24.7% and 17.4%, respectively. In all, 30.6% of the patients spent over half of their income to cover medical costs. Multivariate analysis revealed that anxiety symptoms (P

Adi Lahat,1,2 Uri Kopylov,1,2 Marianne M Amitai,3 Sandra Neuman,1,2 Nina Levhar,1,2 Doron Yablecovitch,1,2 Benjamin Avidan,1,2 Henit Yanai,2,4 Iris Dotan,2,4 Yehuda Chowers,5,6 Batya Weiss,7 Shomron Ben-Horin,1,2,* Rami Eliakim1,2,* On behalf of the Israeli IBD Research Network (IIRN) 1Department of Gastroenterology, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel; 2Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; 3Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel; 4IBD Center, Department of Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Tel Aviv Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Isarel; 5Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel; 6Bruce Rappaport School of Medicine, Technion Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel; 7Edmond and Lily Safra Children’s Hospital, Tel Hashomer, Israel *These authors contributed equally to this work Background: Despite differences in the information obtained by capsule endoscopy (CE) and magnetic resonance enterography (MRE), one of these modalities is usually needed when evaluating disease activity. There are no data on patients’ preference that would help guide the choice between these two modalities in these instances.Aim: To compare patients’ tolerance and preference to MRE versus CE.Patients and methods: Patients with known small bowel Crohn’s disease (CD) in clinical remission (Crohn’s disease activity index [CDAI]

Adi Lahat, Sandra Neuman, Rami Eliakim, Shomron Ben-Horin Department of Gastroenterology, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel Background: Chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) causes significant distress for patients and their families. Data assessing the need of these patients for support and sharing with their partners are scarce. The aim of this study was to assess patients’ views regarding sharing of information with their partners. Methods: Ambulatory IBD patients treated at the Chaim Sheba Medical Center between January 2011 and January 2013 were asked to complete an anonymous questionnaire. Patients who had a stable partner and completed more than 95% of the questionnaire were included. Results: Of 134 patients who agreed to complete the questionnaire, 101 met the inclusion criteria, 53 were men (mean age 45±15 years), and 50% had academic education. Only 42% of patients reported that their partner accompanied them to the doctor. However, 93% shared health problems with their partner, 64% would have liked their partner to receive more medical information, and 70% would like their partner to be more involved. The majority (88%) believed that more partner involvement could help them deal better with the disease, and 70% thought that support groups for partners should be established. No association was found between patients’ demographic data and their answers. Patients who felt that partner involvement could help them to deal with the disease tended to share medical information with their partners and wanted them to be more involved in health care decision-making (P