Background: Women with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with poor IBD-specific reproductive knowledge experience more childlessness and fear of IBD medications in pregnancy. The Pregnancy in IBD Decision Aid (PIDA), developed by an international multidisciplinary team, offers personalized online decision support regarding pregnancy in IBD. Aims: Assess the impact of PIDA on quality of reproductive decision-making and pregnancy-related knowledge among preconception (PC) and pregnant patients with IBD, and evaluate acceptability to patients and clinicians. Methods: PC and pregnant patients with IBD aged 18–45 completed questionnaires pre- and post-PIDA to assess quality of decision-making (Decisional Conflict Scale (DCS); Decision Self-Efficacy Scale (DSES) and IBD-in-pregnancy knowledge (Crohn's and Colitis Pregnancy Knowledge Score (CCPKnow)). Paired t test assessed for differences pre- and post-PIDA. Patients and clinicians completed acceptability surveys. Results: DCS and DSES were completed by 74 patients (42 Crohn’s disease, 32 ulcerative colitis); 41 PC and 33 pregnant. DCS improved significantly post-PIDA in PC patients regarding pregnancy planning (t(40) = 4.83, p < 0.0001, Cohen’s dz = 0.75) and in pregnant patients regarding medication management (t(32) = 2.37, p = 0.0242, dz = 0.41). DSES for PC patients improved significantly post-PIDA (t(40) = -3.56, p = 0.001, dz = -0.56). CCPKnow improved significantly post-PIDA in PC (t(42) = 4.93, p < 0.0001, dz = -0.75) and pregnant patients (t(32) = 5.1, p < 0.0001, dz = -0.89). PIDA was deemed optimal for length, readability, and content amount and considered highly useful by patients (n = 73) and clinicians (n = 14). Conclusions: Patients using PIDA developed an improved quality of reproductive decision-making and IBD-in-pregnancy knowledge. PIDA is an accessible tool that can empower women with IBD to make values-congruent, evidence-based decisions regarding pregnancy and may reduce voluntary childlessness.
Introduction Perianal fistulising Crohn’s disease (pfCD) can be somewhat treatment refractory. Higher infliximab trough levels (TLIs) may improve fistula healing rates; however, it remains unclear whether escalating infliximab therapy to meet higher TLI targets using proactive, or routine, therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) improves outcomes. This randomised controlled trial aimed to assess whether infliximab therapy targeting higher TLIs guided by proactive TDM improves outcomes compared with standard therapy. Methods and analysis Patients with active pfCD will be randomised 1:1 to either the proactive TDM arm or standard dosing arm and followed up for 54 weeks. Patients in the proactive TDM arm will have infliximab dosing optimised to target higher TLIs. The targets will be TLI ≥ 25 µg/mL at week 2, ≥ 20 µg/mL at week 6 and ≥ 10 µg/mL during maintenance therapy. The primary objective will be fistula healing at week 32. Secondary objectives will include fistula healing, fistula closure, radiological fistula healing, patient-reported outcomes and economic costs up to 54 weeks. Patients in the standard dosing arm will receive conventional infliximab dosing not guided by TLIs (5 mg/kg at weeks 0, 2 and 6, and 5 mg/kg 8 weekly thereafter). Patients aged 18–80 years with pfCD with single or multiple externally draining complex perianal fistulas who are relatively naïve to infliximab treatment will be included. Patients with diverting ileostomies or colostomies and pregnant or breast feeding will be excluded. Fifty-eight patients per arm will be required to detect a 25% difference in the primary outcome measure, with 138 patients needed to account for an estimated 6.1% primary non-response rate and 10% dropout rate. Ethics and dissemination Results will be presented in peer-reviewed journals and international conferences. Ethics approval has been granted by the South Western Sydney Local Health District Human Research Ethics Committee in Australia. Trial registration number Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12621000023853); Pre-results.
Background and Aims: Significant barriers exist with hepatitis B (HBV) case detection and effective linkage to care (LTC). The emergency department (ED) is a unique healthcare interaction where hepatitis screening and LTC could be achieved. We examined the efficacy and utility of automated ED HBV screening for Overseas Born (OB) patients. Methods: A novel‐automated hepatitis screening service “SEARCH” (Screening Emergency Admissions at Risk of Chronic Hepatitis) was piloted at a metropolitan hospital. A retrospective and comparative analysis of hepatitis testing during the SEARCH pilot compared to a period of routine testing was conducted. Results: During the SEARCH pilot, 4778 OB patients were tested for HBV (86% of eligible patient presentations), compared with 1.9% of eligible patients during a control period of clinician‐initiated testing. SEARCH detected 108 (2.3%) hepatitis B surface antigen positive patients including 20 (19%) in whom the diagnosis was new. Among 88 patients with known HBV, 57% were receiving medical care, 33% had become lost to follow‐up and 10% had never received HBV care. Overall, 30/88 (34%) patients with known HBV were receiving complete guideline‐based care prior to re‐engagement via SEARCH. Following SEARCH, LTC was successful achieved in 48/58 (83%) unlinked patients and 19 patients were commenced on anti‐viral therapy. New diagnoses of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma were made in five and one patient(s) respectively. Conclusions: Automated ED screening of OB patients is effective in HBV diagnosis, re‐diagnosis and LTC. Prior to SEARCH, the majority of patients were not receiving guideline‐based care.
Background and Aim: There is an increasing prevalence of chronic disease worldwide, resulting in multiple management challenges. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an exemplar chronic disease requiring coordinated longitudinal care. We propose that Crohn's Colitis Care (CCCare), a novel IBD‐specific, structured electronic medical record is effective at improving data capture and is acceptable to patients.Methods: A comparison was made between IBD‐data completeness in usual records and CCCare. CCCare's acceptability to patients was assessed in two independent IBD patient cohorts and included:• Overall ratings of acceptability.• Factors associated with pre‐exposure acceptability ratings.• Whether exposure and security concerns influenced acceptability ratings.• Direct patient feedback through CCCare's patient portal.Results: In all cases reviewed, there was data gain using structured CCCare fields compared with IBD documentation in usual medical records. The overall acceptability in the combined cohort (n = 310) was very high. More than three‐quarters of patients rated acceptability as >7 of 10. Self‐reported information technology (IT) literacy positively associated with acceptability. Exposure had a small positive affect on acceptability, whereas security concerns had little impact on acceptability. Patient portal feedback revealed that most patients are very likely to recommend CCCare to others (8.56 ± 2.2 [out of 10]).Conclusion: CCCare is effective in supporting more complete IBD‐specific data capture compared with usual medical records. It is highly acceptable to patients, especially those with reasonable IT literacy. Patient concerns about privacy and security of electronic medical records (EMRs) did not significantly affect acceptability.
Background: Few studies have explored the relationship between habitual dietary patterns and disease activity in people with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). This cross-sectional study explored the association between dietary patterns and clinical and objective markers of inflammation in adults from the Australian IBD Microbiome Study. Methods: Dietary patterns were derived using principal component analysis (PCA) of baseline food frequency questionnaire data. Food intake was quantified using 3-day food record data. Associations between dietary intake and both clinical disease activity index (CDAI) and faecal calprotectin (FCP) were analysed. Results: Participants included 412 adults (IBD = 223, Healthy controls (HC) = 189). Both cohorts consumed poor-quality diets with inadequate servings of most food groups compared to Australian reference standards. IBD participants without FCP inflammation had significantly higher fibre intake than those with moderate FCP. In the Crohn’s Disease group, high adherence to ‘High plant diversity’ and ‘Meat eaters’ dietary patterns were associated with increased CDAI and FCP, respectively. In the combined IBD cohort, high adherence to a ‘Vegan-style’ dietary pattern was associated with increased FCP. Conclusions: There is a need for dietary modifications among Australian adults, both with and without IBD, to improve dietary fibre intake and adherence to dietary guidelines. Dietary patterns characterised by a high intake of plant foods or meat products were both positively associated with indicators of active IBD. It is possible that some participants with active IBD were modifying their diet to try to manage their disease and reduce symptoms, contributing to the association between healthier dietary patterns and active disease. Further clinical and longitudinal studies are needed to expand upon the findings. This study offers a unique contribution by utilising FCP as an objective marker of intestinal inflammation and applying dietary pattern analysis to investigate the relationship between diet and inflammatory markers.