Inflammatory bowel disease psychological support pilot reduces inflammatory bowel disease symptoms and improves psychological wellbeing

This prospective service evaluation aimed to determine if integrated psychological support for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) enhanced outcomes. 75 patients were assessed and treated by a specialist liaison psychiatric service between 2015 and 2017; 43 received psychiatric intervention alone, 32 were referred for psychological intervention by clinical health psychologist; 26 completed this. Pre-post data (n=15 available) included global impression, quality of life, and psychiatric and IBD symptom scores. Referrer/patient satisfaction and cost-effectiveness were retrospectively calculated. Psychological intervention led to reductions in IBD symptoms (ΔSIBD; p=0.003), alongside improvements in depression scores (ΔPHQ-9, p=0.006) and global impression (ΔCGI; p=0.046). Patient/referrer satisfaction was very high. Indicative data comparing service utilisation 1 year before and after engagement found reductions in outpatient appointments and in imaging. This small study suggests consideration of increased access to integrated psychological support services to improve outcomes and gather further evidence of efficacy.