This study investigates the correlation between psychological factors and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in Chinese patients with Crohn's disease (CD). The results indicate that neuroticism, anxiety, and depression significantly affect HRQoL in both active and quiescent CD patients. The findings highlight the importance of considering these psychological factors when assessing clinical outcomes and developing interventions to improve HRQoL in CD patients.

1. ACS Clinical Congress, Washington DC, Oct. 2013. SONG LIU, et al.
Copyrights reserved by all authors. 1
Psychological factors correlated with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and
should be taken into consideration in evaluation of clinical outcome in Chinese
patients with Crohn’s disease
Song Liu1, 2, &
, MD; Jianan Ren1, *
, MD, PhD, FACS; Zhiwu Hong1, &
, MD; Xiaoting Li3
,
BN; Min Yao4
, MD, MPH; Dongsheng Yan1
, MD; Huajian Ren1
, MD; Xiuwen Wu1
, MD,
PhD; Gefei Wang1
, MD, PhD; Guosheng Gu1
, MD, PhD; Qiuyuan Xia5
, MD; Gang Han6
,
MD; Jieshou Li1
, MD.
1
Department of Surgery, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University,
Nanjing, China
2
Center for the Study of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, GI Unit, Department of Medicine,
Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
3
Department of Surgery, Jinling Hospital, Nursing College, Nanjing University of
Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China
4
Department of Surgery, Limb Preservation and Wound Care Research, VA New
England Health Care Division, Providence, RI, USA
5
Department of Pathology, Jinling Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University,
Nanjing, China
6
Department of General Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Jilin University, General
Surgery Center of Jilin University, Changchun, China

2. ACS Clinical Congress, Washington DC, Oct. 2013. SONG LIU, et al.
Copyrights reserved by all authors. 2
*
Correspondence to: Dr. Jianan Ren, MD, PhD, FACS, 305 East Zhongshan RD,
Nanjing, 210002, China. (Tel) +86-25-80860108; (E-mail) JiananR@gmail.com
&
These authors contribute equally to this work.
Conflict of interest: all authors declare no conflict of interest
Source of grants and fundings: This work was supported by grants from National
Natural Science Foundation of China, No.81270478 (J.R.); Climbing Program in Natural
Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province for Distinguished Scholars No.BK2010017
(J.R.); High-Level Personnel Training Project, No. BRA2011232 (J.R.), and Chinese
Scholarship Council (award to S.L. for study at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard
Medical School).

3. ACS Clinical Congress, Washington DC, Oct. 2013. SONG LIU, et al.
Copyrights reserved by all authors. 3
Abstract
Background Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is recommended as one of essential
parameters to evaluate treatment effect and clinical outcome in patients with Crohn’s
disease (CD). Recent studies reported that psychological factors might play a role in
HRQoL in CD patients. This study is dedicated to investigate the correlation of various
psychological factors with HRQoL and their potential impact on clinical outcome
evaluation in Chinese patients with CD.
Methods Forty active CD and 40 quiescent CD patients were prospectively enrolled.
Validated Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (IBDQ), Neuroticism (N) and Lie
(L) subscale of the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI), Hospital Anxiety and
Depression Scale (HADS) and Buss-Perry Aggression (BPA) questionnaire were
completed by each participant.
Results Neuroticism, anxiety and depression were correlated well with IBDQ and its
subscales in both active and quiescent CD groups. In quiescent CD group, neuroticism
could predict IBDQ, IBDQ emotional function and IBDQ bowel function while anxiety
could predict IBDQ systemic symptom. In active CD group, IBDQ emotional function
could be predicted by both neuroticism and anxiety while other IBDQ and its subscales
could be predicted by neuroticism independently.
Conclusions Psychological factors, especially neuroticism and anxiety, significantly
correlate with HRQoL in both active and quiescent CD patients, and should be taken into

4. ACS Clinical Congress, Washington DC, Oct. 2013. SONG LIU, et al.
Copyrights reserved by all authors. 4
account when using IBDQ to evaluate HRQoL and clinical outcome in CD patients.
Continued researches to identify predictors of HRQoL in CD are expected in the future to
enhance our capacity to design interventions to improve HRQoL and maximize health
outcomes.
Keywords:
Crohn’s disease; Inflammatory bowel disease; personality; psychological; healthy-related
quality of life; HRQoL
ClinicalTrial.gov Registration Number: NCT01887548