Physical Activity, Sitting, Quality of Life, and Resilience in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Background: Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are a group of autoimmune diseases characterized by the cyclical nature of flare and remission periods that can affect health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Physical activity can benefit HRQOL in the general population and in individuals with chronic diseases. However, there is a paucity of data on physical activity and HRQOL in IBD. The purpose was to characterize physical activity, sitting, HRQOL, and resilience levels in people with IBD (in remission and disease flare) compared with healthy controls.Methods: Participants with IBD (n = 242; 96 in disease flare and 146 in disease remission) and healthy controls (n = 265) reported levels of physical activity, sitting, HRQOL, and resilience. Data were analyzed using analysis of covariance, with demographic variables as covariates.Results: IBD participants reported lower physical activity and resilience than controls (P < 0.05) with no differences between disease states. Time spent sitting was not different across groups (P = 0.07). There were lower scores of physical and mental HRQOL in people with IBD (44.2 ± 9.7 and 40.7 ± 11.7, respectively) than controls (55.9 ± 6.0 and 48.1 ± 10.0, respectively; P < 0.001).Conclusion: Our findings suggest that people with IBD have lower levels of physical activity, HRQOL, and resilience than healthy controls but no difference in time spent sitting. There were no apparent negative consequences of a disease flare on physical activity and resilience levels; however, those in a flare reported reduced HRQOL. Research should begin to focus on physical activity or mental skills training interventions for improving HRQOL in people with IBD, particularly those in a disease flare.