Development of a social morbidity score in patients with chronic ulcerative colitis as a potential guide to treatment.

Aim Present quality of life instruments for inflammatory bowel disease do not evaluate many social aspects of patients' lives that are potentially important in clinical decision making. We have developed a new Social Impact of Chronic Conditions - Inflammatory Bowel Disease (SICC-IBD) questionnaire to assess these areas. Method A 34-item questionnaire was piloted to determine quality of life relating to education, personal relationships, employment, independence and finance. It was compared with the Short Form 36-Item version 2 (SF-36v2) and the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (IBDQ) in 150 patients with chronic ulcerative colitis on an endoscopic surveillance register who had never had surgery. Results Reliability and validity testing enabled the questionnaire to be shortened to only eight items. There was a high level of reliability (Cronbach's α = 0.72). The questionnaire correlated well with the social functioning domain of the SF-36 ( r_s = 0.56) and was able to distinguish clinical severity of disease. Conclusion The SICC-IBD is a new tool for assessment of patients with ulcerative colitis, which has identified new aspects of social disability for further study and for potential use as an additional tool in therapy decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]