The impact of biological interventions on health‐related quality of life in adults with Crohn's disease

Health related quality of life (HRQoL) represents a functional effect of the disease and it is one of the main issues in people with Crohn disease (CD). Modifying the disease course, the biological treatment may have a substantial effect on HRQoL and therefore would be beneficial to be introduced earlier in the treatment with regard to HRQoL outcomes (Bodger 2002). Studies increasingly include HRQoL as a secondary outcome and no systematic review has clearly established the evidence for an improvement in HRQoL in this population. A previous literature review on the impact of biologics on HRQoL in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients has been limited in the scope and time of the articles retrieved (IBD population, including both CD and ulcerative colitis) and methodological concept (articles only in English, only inflammatory bowel disease questionairre (IBDQ) and 36-Item Short Form Survey (SF‐36) as outcome measures) (Vogelaar 2009). This review endeavours to address an up‐to‐date critical view growing evidence on the impact of biological interventions in improving HRQoL in people with CD.