title: Coping Strategies Used by Adult Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Symptoms of and treatments for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have a significant impact on patients' quality of life (QOL) and result in an increased prevalence of depression and anxiety disorders. Little is known about the type of coping strategies used by adult patients with IBD to better cope with their chronic illness, however. The objectives of this study were to identify the types of coping styles and their impact on the QOL of patients with IBD.
  
  
  METHODS
  The first 150 consecutive participants with IBD were recruited at five major tertiary hospitals and given an anonymous survey consisting of demographic information, the Jalowiec Coping Scale, and the Shortened Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The cohort was 51.3% men and included 150 participants with a mean age of 39.3 years. The primary coping mechanisms used were confrontive (46.7%), evasiveness (30.0%), optimistic (18.7%), and fatalistic (4.6%) coping. Participants rated confrontive (62.0%), optimistic (26.6%), and evasive (11.4%) coping styles as the most effective. Those who reported an increased frequency of flares scored lower on QOL (P <0.05) and more often used evasive and fatalistic coping styles (P < 0.05) compared with other coping strategies; however, after controlling for disease activity, QOL was significantly better for those who primarily used adaptive coping styles compared with those who used maladaptive styles (P <0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We demonstrated that confrontive, evasive, and optimistic styles of coping are most widely used among patients with IBD. Despite controlling for disease activity, we demonstrated that those who used adaptive coping styles had a higher QOL compared with those who used maladapative coping styles. Future research on coping is warranted to assess coping styles on therapeutic compliance and disease perception.
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Medicine, University of California Irvine, Orange, Department of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California, the Naval Medical Center San Diego, San Diego, California, Kaiser Permanente Southern California, Victorville, and the Department of Medicine, Cedars- Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California.
authors.forename: Nimisha K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Parekh
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Medicine, University of California Irvine, Orange, Department of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California, the Naval Medical Center San Diego, San Diego, California, Kaiser Permanente Southern California, Victorville, and the Department of Medicine, Cedars- Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California.
authors.forename: Kristin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: McMaster
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Medicine, University of California Irvine, Orange, Department of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California, the Naval Medical Center San Diego, San Diego, California, Kaiser Permanente Southern California, Victorville, and the Department of Medicine, Cedars- Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California.
authors.forename: Douglas L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Medicine, University of California Irvine, Orange, Department of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California, the Naval Medical Center San Diego, San Diego, California, Kaiser Permanente Southern California, Victorville, and the Department of Medicine, Cedars- Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California.
authors.forename: Shamita
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Medicine, University of California Irvine, Orange, Department of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California, the Naval Medical Center San Diego, San Diego, California, Kaiser Permanente Southern California, Victorville, and the Department of Medicine, Cedars- Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California.
authors.forename: Alissa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Speziale
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Medicine, University of California Irvine, Orange, Department of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California, the Naval Medical Center San Diego, San Diego, California, Kaiser Permanente Southern California, Victorville, and the Department of Medicine, Cedars- Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California.
authors.forename: Jocelyne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Medicine, University of California Irvine, Orange, Department of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California, the Naval Medical Center San Diego, San Diego, California, Kaiser Permanente Southern California, Victorville, and the Department of Medicine, Cedars- Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California.
authors.forename: Gil
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Melmed
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative / Q000523:psychology*; D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires