Patient-Reported Outcomes and Risk of Hospitalization and Readmission in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

Background and Aims Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) provide a wholesome view of patient well-being. We conducted a retrospective cohort study to evaluate whether PROMs inform risk of unplanned healthcare utilization in patients with IBD. Methods We identified adult patients with IBD who completed at least two surveys in a large Internet-based cohort within 1 year. We evaluated the association between baseline patient characteristics, disease activity indices, medication use, and PROMs, assessed using NIH Patient-Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS) and subsequent risk of incident hospitalization (at time of first follow-up) within 1 year, and readmission within 1 year (in patients with hospitalization at first follow-up), using multivariable logistic regression. Results Of 7902 patients with IBD (45.5 year, 72% females, 63% Crohn's disease), 1377 (17.4%) were hospitalized within 1 year. Among PROMs, pain interference (adjusted OR per 5-point increase in PROMIS, 1.09; 95% CI 1.05-1.14), but not depression, anxiety, fatigue or sleep disturbance, was predictive of higher risk of hospitalization. Prior surgery or hospitalization, symptomatic disease, biologic, and corticosteroid use were also associated with higher risk of hospitalization. Of 521 patients hospitalized with IBD, 133 (25.5%) were readmitted within 1 year. Anxiety and pain interference were predictive of higher risk of readmission, whereas depression was associated with lower risk of readmission. Conclusions In a large Internet-based cohort study, PROMs may have a modest effect on modifying risk of unplanned healthcare utilization in patients with IBD, with pain interference being most consistently associated with increased risk of hospitalization and readmission.