Self-care in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: a descriptive cross-sectional multicenter study

Introudction Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), encompassing Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), requires complex self-care behaviors to manage symptoms and maintain quality of life. Despite its importance, self-care in IBD remains poorly understood. This study aims to investigate self-care practices and the sociodemographic and clinical determinants of self-care among patients with IBD. Methods A multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted in nine IBD units in Italy. Patients were enrolled between April and June 2024. Self-care was assessed using the Self-Care of Chronic Illness Inventory, covering self-care maintenance, self-care monitoring, and self-care management. Socio-demographic and clinical data were collected through structured questionnaires. Multiple linear regressions examined the relationships between patient characteristics and self-care dimensions. The N-ECCO Research Grant supported the study. Results Among 452 patients (49.3% CD, 50.7% UC), mean self-care scores were 72.84 ± 12.57 (self-care maintenance), 81.14 ± 17.94 (self-care monitoring), and 67.73 ± 16.99 (self-care management). Ulcerative colitis patients demonstrated significantly better self-care management than CD patients (P = .002). Higher disease activity was associated with worse self-care maintenance (β = –.11, P = .030), while supplement use predicted better self-care maintenance (β = .10, P = .028). For self-care monitoring, female gender (β = .11, P = .020) and supplement use (β = .13, P = .005) were positively associated with higher scores. Conclusion Inflammatory bowel disease patients demonstrated adequate self-care maintenance and monitoring, but their self-care management was suboptimal. Female gender and supplement use were associated with better self-care monitoring; disease activity worsened self-care maintenance. Ulcerative colitis patients had better self-care management than CD, highlighting the need for tailored interventions to improve self-care.