Integrating a mobile app with online health coaching into usual care boosts outcomes for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), according to a study published online April 26 in Crohn's & Colitis 360.
Celeste M. Lavallee, R.D., from the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada, and colleagues assessed whether online health coaching focusing on self-management helps reduce mental health burden and improve quality of life (QoL) in people with IBDs. The analysis included 14 adults with ulcerative colitis and 31 with Crohn disease.
The researchers found that patients who chose the intervention in addition to conventional management had a decreased risk for anxiety and improved QoL from baseline to week 12 compared with those receiving only usual care. Both groups had significant decreases in the risk for depression, but these decreases did not differ significantly between groups. Similarly, both groups experienced significant improvements in physical activity, stress, and sleep, but changes were not significant between groups. The intervention was associated with significantly greater increases in intakes of vitamin C, folate, total fruit, and legumes compared with conventional management alone.
