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Rural patients with inflammatory bowel disease have low engagement and reporting of psychological distress: A pilot study

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a debilitating illness with high levels of co-morbid anxiety and depression, which impacts on the patient’s quality of life (QOL) and clinical outcomes. Due to this complexity, an integrated model of care (IMoC) is seen as best practice, including screening for psychological distress. As part of the implementation of an IMoC in a regionally based multidisciplinary IBD clinic in Western Australia, all presenting adult IBD patients (n = 26) were recommended to participate in a brief routine psychological screening assessment. Initial intake identified low reporting of psychological distress, and low uptake of psychological services. We determined to elicit the reasons for the low reporting and lack of engagement in psychological screening and treatment, and to investigate if IBD patients’ reporting of distress and uptake of psychological treatment differed between chronic and acute presentations.