ABSTRACT
Crohn's disease is a chronic disorder that specifically affects the alimentary tract
but broadly affects the physical and psychosocial lifestyles. Laboratory or endoscopic
testing and clinical health indices that ignored the patient's life quality were traditionally
used to monitor outcomes of medical and surgical therapy. Accordingly, health-related
quality-of-life assessment was proposed and has assumed an important role in the care
and study of patients with Crohn's disease. This advance in quality measurement has
been welcomed by the third-party payers and managed care plans that are faced with
escalating medical care costs and hence demand improved care quality, objective measurement
of life quality, and documentation of patient satisfaction. These providers are also
interested in the cost of therapy, and they desire to determine whether the health
benefit justifies the additional expense. As new treatments are developed, society
will require consideration of the modality's clinical effectiveness, impact on life
quality, and cost.
KEYWORD
Crohn's disease - quality of life - costs
