Dietary habits of patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) from Eastern Croatia

Uvod: Prehrana ima važnu ulogu u životu i liječenju bolesnika s upalnim bolestima crijeva (UBC). Cilj istraživanja bio je utvrditi prehrambene navike oboljelih od UBC-a s područja istočne Hrvatske, te njihovo poimanje istih u kontekstu smanjenja simptoma bolesti. Ispitanici i metode: U presječno istraživanje, provedeno na području istočne Hrvatske u razdoblju od siječnja do lipnja 2016. godine, bilo je uključeno 296 bolesnika oboljelih od UBC-a prosječne dobi 50,1 ± 15,0 godina; 53,7% muškaraca i 46,3% žena; 29,4% oboljelih od Crohnove bolesti, te 70,6% oboljelih od ulceroznog kolitisa. Anonimni anketni upitnik korišten je za utvrđivanje sociodemografskih osobina oboljelih, te njihovih prehrambenih navika. Rezultati: Istraživanje je pokazalo kako 78,7% oboljelih dnevno konzumira 2-3 obroka, te kako 87,5% oboljelih nije promijenilo broj dnevnih obroka nakon obolijevanja od UBC. Prije postavljanja dijagnoze UBC-a 5,1% oboljelih, kao najzastupljeniju namirnicu u prehrani izdvojilo je meso, a nakon postavljene dijagnoze 0,7% oboljelih. Među oboljelima je bilo 34,5% onih koji kao pomoćno sredstvo u kontroli simptoma svoje bolesti, uz standardnu terapiju koriste i neki oblik posebnog prehrambenog režima. Zaključak: Dijetoterapija je značajno pomoćno sredstvo u kontroli simptoma UBC-a, pri čemu temelj dijete predstavlja osobno iskustvo oboljeloga, te uklanjanje nepoželjnih namirnica iz prehrane, sukladno istom.Introduction: Nutrition plays an important role in the life and treatment of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The aim of this study was to determine the dietary habits of patients with IBD from Eastern Croatia, and their perception of the same in the context of reducing the symptoms of the disease Patients and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Eastern Croatia in the period from January to June 2016. The study included 296 patients with IBD whose average age was 50.1 ± 15.0 years; 53.7% men and 46.3% women; 29.4% of patients with Crohn's disease and 70.6% of patients with ulcerative colitis. An anonymous questionnaire was used to determine the socio-demographic characteristics of patients and their eating habits. Results: The study showed that 78.7% of patients daily consume 2-3 servings and that 87.5% of patients did not change the number of daily meals after they had been diagnosed with IBD. Before the diagnosis of the IBD 5.1% of patients reported that meat is the most frequent foodstuff in their diet while after the diagnosis of the IBD 0.7% of patients reported meat as the most frequent foodstuff in their diet. Among the patients there were 34.5% of those who used some form of special dietary regime as an adjunct to control the symptoms of their illness along with standard therapy. Conclusion: Dietotherapy is a significant complementary therapy in controlling the symptoms of IBD, whereby the basis for the implementation of a special nutrition regime is a personal experience of particular patients and removal of undesirable foodstuff from his or her diet in accordance with the mentioned experience