Enhanced Social Support in Crohn's Disease Patients Is Associated With Better Quality of Life, Reduced Psychological Stress and Diminished Disease Activity

Background: Recent research suggests that a high level of Social Support has a positive effect of the medical and psychological well-being of patients with chronic illnesses. However, the impact of social support on the status of Crohn's Disease (CD) patients is not understood.
We aimed to measure this relationship. Methods: Israeli adult CD patients were recruited consecutively from outpatient IBD clinics at five teaching hospitals, and via the CD Patients' Organization on the internet. Patients completed a questionnaire comprising a series of measures, as follows: Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, MSPSS (measures degree of social support), Brief Symptom Inventory, BSI (psychological symptoms), SF-36 and SIBDQ (quality of life), Satisfaction with Life Scale (general well-being), Family Assessment Device (family functioning), List of Threatening Life Events (stress), Daily Hassles Scale (stress), Harvey-Bradshaw Index (disease activity scale). Data are presented as means± SD. Results: The cohort comprised 84 men (36.8%) and 144 women (63.2%), aged 38.2± 13.6 years, disease duration 11.2 ± 9.0 years, median economic status 3 on scale of 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest). The MSPSS total score was 69.6±14.2, indicating a rather high level
of perceived social support. MSPSS was associated positively with economic status (correlation coefficient .221, p<0.01), and negatively with the Harvey-Bradshaw Index (-.201, p<0.01). MSPSS was strongly correlated with quality of life and psychological measures (Table 1); a higher MSPSS was associated with better quality of life, more satisfaction with life, better family support, less psychological stress, and reduced disease activity. Results of regression
analyses indicate that MSPSS significantly predicts both physical and psychological wellbeing of CD patients, while controlling for socio-demographic characteristics (Table 2). Conclusions: Social support is an important factor affecting the medical and psychological condition of CD patients. Therefore, physicians should identify patients with poor social support and offer prompt psychological counseling.