Patient Experiences in the Management of Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Qualitative Study

BACKGROUND

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) can lead to substantial impairments of quality-of-life. Clinical guidelines and quality indicators aid physicians in practice but may not reflect the perspectives and experiences of patients with IBD. To address this, the objectives of this study were to understand patient experiences with IBD care and to explore priorities.

METHODS

Based on a convenience sample of 36 participants, five focus groups were completed at four sites across Canada. Data were analyzed using a deductive thematic analysis approach to assess emergent themes and variability in participants' experiences.

RESULTS

Our results are organized by themes of structure, process and outcomes to illustrate common issues with respect to how care is organized in the healthcare system, how patients receive and experience care and how patients perceive the outcomes of their care. Our results frame a health systems quality approach that signal needed improvements in access to care, the need for innovation with respect to virtual medicine, the potential expansion of multidisciplinary team-based care and the importance of addressing the psychosocial dimensions for patients with IBD and their caregivers in order to better deliver patient-centred care.

CONCLUSIONS

The issues identified have the potential to impact priority areas in the system, IBD care delivery, and how outcomes can be improved by focusing on 'lived experience' and patient-centred care. The differing values and perspectives of all those involved in caring for patients with IBD underscore the importance of good communication with patients, caregivers and family members, as well as staying responsive to evolving needs.

A169 PRICE: PREVENTING READMISSIONS IN IBD CENTRES OF EXCELLENCE

Background

Hospital readmission rates are high in the inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) population, with 20% of patients readmitted within the same year. Discharge processes are not routinely standardized and deficiencies in transition of care puts patients at an increased risk of recurrent illness and healthcare costs. In addition, hospitalizations for IBD patients are associated with nosocomial complications such as venous thromboembolism.

Aims

We hypothesize that standardized follow-up by an IBD practice nurse and electronic health outcome monitoring reduces the risk of hospital readmission compared to current approaches of hospital discharge alone.

Methods

This pilot study uses a prospective parallel randomized control design and includes patients admitted with an IBD flare who were discharged without surgical intervention. Patients randomized to the control arm were discharged with usual standard of care (i.e. discharge summary and/or follow-up). In addition to standard of care, those in the intervention group received organized telephone or email follow-up by an IBD practice nurse at 1, 7 and 30 days post-discharge. These patients also received bi-weekly corespondence from an electronic survey tool, NoviSurvey, to determine clinical disease severity and medication adherence. Based on patient interactions and survey responses, the IBD nurse may arrange for expedited ambulatory visit or readmission for high-risk patients.

Results

At present, 41 patients have been enrolled into our study, 4 of which were excluded due to surgical management. 19 patients were randomized to the intervention and 17 to the control group. In the intervention group, the 30-day cumulative rate of readmission [0/19 (0%) vs. 4/17 (24%), p = 0.040] as well as the proportion of patients who failed to taper steroids [0/18 (0%) vs. 5/15 (33%), p = 0.013] was significantly lower when compared to the control group. There were no occurrences of deep vein thrombosis within 30 days post-discharge in either group.

Conclusions

These findings in our pilot study indicate that a nurse led post-discharge intervention may translate to benefits including decreased readmission rates and better medication adherence, warranting a large clinical trial to confirm findings.

Patient Demographics and Clinical Outcomes Between Intervention and Control Groups

Funding Agencies

CAG, CCC

A241 PRICE: PREVENTING READMISSIONS IN IBD CENTRES OF EXCELLENCE

Background

Hospital readmission rates are high in the IBD population, with 20% of patients readmitted within the same calendar year. Hospital discharge processes are not routinely standardized and deficiencies in the transition of care after discharge puts patients at increased risk of illness, hospital utilization and healthcare cost. In addition to increased healthcare expenditure, hospitalizations for IBD patients are associated with nosocomial complications such as venous thromboembolism and infection.

Aims

We hypothesize that implementing standardized follow-up by an IBD practice nurse and electronic health outcome monitoring through NoviSurvey can reduce the risk of hospital readmission compared to current approaches of hospital discharge alone.

Methods

This parallel randomized control trial is powered for N=400 and will include patients admitted for an IBD flare without requiring surgical intervention from the gastroenterology service or consulted from general internal medicine. Patients randomized to the control arm are discharged with usual standard of care. Patients in the intervention group will be eligible for usual post-discharge care in addition to organized telephone follow-up by an IBD practice nurse at 1, 7 and 30 days post-discharge. In addition, these patients will receive bi-weekly correspondence from NoviSurvey to complete a short questionnaire on clinical disease severity and medication adherence. Based on telephone interaction and survey scores, the IBD nurse may arrange readmission or expedited ambulatory visit for high-risk patients.

Results

15 patients are currently enrolled into our study, with 7 randomized to the intervention and 8 to the control group. In the control group, 25% of patients were readmitted to hospital within 30 days of discharge and 13% failed to follow their steroid taper. There were no patients in the intervention group who were readmitted to hospital within 30 days and none who failed their steroid taper. In both the control or intervention group, there were no occurrences of deep vein thrombosis within 30 days post-discharge.

Conclusions

The preliminary findings in our small sample study indicate that a nurse led post-discharge intervention may translate to benefits including decreased readmission rates to hospital, better patient satisfaction and better medication adherence.

Funding Agencies

CCC

Transforming Access to Specialist Care for Inflammatory Bowel Disease: The PACE Telemedicine Program

Background

There are significant geographic disparities in the delivery of IBD healthcare in Ontario which may ultimately impact health outcomes. Telemedicine-based health services may potentially bridge gaps in access to gastroenterologists in remote and underserved areas.

Methods

We conducted a needs assessment for IBD specialist care in Ontario using health administrative data. As part of a separate initiative to address geographic disparities in access to care, we described the development and implementation of our Promoting Access and Care through Centres of Excellence (PACE) Telemedicine Program. Over the first 18 months, we measured wait times and potential cost savings.

Results

We found substantial deficiencies in specialist care early in the course of IBD and continuous IBD care in regions where the number of gastroenterologists per capita were low. The PACE Telemedicine Program enabled new IBD consultations within a median time of 17 days (interquartile range [IQR], 7–32 days) and visits for active IBD symptoms with a median time of 8.5 days (IQR, 4–14 days). Forty-five percent of new consultations and 83% of patients with active IBD symptoms were seen within the target wait time of two weeks. Telemedicine services resulted in an estimated cost savings of $47,565 among individuals who qualified for Ontario’s Northern Travel Grant.

Conclusions

The implementation of telemedicine services for IBD is highly feasible and can reduce wait times to see gastroenterologists that meet nationally recommended targets and can lead to cost savings.

Pupils dilate for vocal or familiar music

Previous research reveals that vocal melodies are remembered better than instrumental renditions. Here we explored the possibility that the voice, as a highly salient stimulus, elicits greater arousal than nonvocal stimuli, resulting in greater pupil dilation for vocal than for instrumental melodies. We also explored the possibility that pupil dilation indexes memory for melodies. We tracked pupil dilation during a single exposure to 24 unfamiliar folk melodies (half sung to la la, half piano) and during a subsequent recognition test in which the previously heard melodies were intermixed with 24 novel melodies (half sung, half piano) from the same corpus. Pupil dilation was greater for vocal melodies than for piano melodies in the exposure phase and in the test phase. It was also greater for previously heard melodies than for novel melodies. Our findings provide the first evidence that pupillometry can be used to measure recognition of stimuli that unfold over several seconds. They also provide the first evidence of enhanced arousal to vocal melodies during encoding and retrieval, thereby supporting the more general notion of the voice as a privileged signal. (PsycINFO Database Record