Quality of care in an inflammatory bowel disease clinical trial center : a prospective study evaluating patients’ satisfaction

Background and study aims: Quality of care is a very timely topic in medicine. We designed a questionnaire to measure perceived quality of care and to explore areas of improvement.

Patients and methods: In this prospective study a questionnaire was developed and administered to all patients with inflammatory bowel disease participating in a randomized clinical trial. The questionnaire was based on validated surveys and supplemented with novel, relevant questions. Factors associated with (poor) quality of care were identified.

Results: Between October 2016 and January 2017, all 107 patients participating in a randomized controlled trial completed the questionnaire (63% male, 76% ulcerative colitis, median age of 47 years). The median satisfaction score was 9 out of 10. Areas of improvement were that too little attention was paid to the disease impact on family and work, dietary and exercise pattern, daily activities and quality of life. Multivariate analysis showed that clinical remission [5.77 (2.03-16.39), p=0.001] was a predictor of good quality of care.

Conclusions: In this large IBD trial bureau, inflammatory bowel disease patients were very satisfied with the quality of care. Domains for quality improvement, such as attention to the impact of IBD on family and work, were identified.

Keywords: inflammatory bowel disease, quality of care, patient satisfaction, trial center.