Obesity is common among patients with pediatric Crohn's disease (PCD). Some adult studies suggest obese patients respond less well to anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) treatment. This study compares anti-TNF response and anti-TNF levels between pediatric patients with normal and high body mass index (BMI).

ImproveCareNow Research Committee member and pediatric IBD psychologist, Jennie David PhD, recently shared her answers to some questions about the state of IBD research, emerging trends in ICN Research, significant recent discoveries, and the value of being involved for psychosocial professionals.

This study aims to characterize pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients who change diagnosis and describe the characteristics of that change.

This study characterized the explanatory models used by pediatric gastroenterologists when explaining inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) to children.

Pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic illness with various treatments, including ostomy surgery. Ostomy‐related medical decision‐making (MDM) is complex for multidisciplinary healthcare professionals (HCPs). This study sought to understand national multidisciplinary HCPs' perceptions about pediatric IBD ostomy surgery in the United States.

Symptoms including Sleep, Pain, Anxiety, Depression, and low Energy/fatigue, also known as the SPADE pentad, can be debilitating for people living with IBD. Research with adults with IBD has found that SPADE symptoms can be particularly distressing and disruptive, even for patients in disease remission. SPADE symptoms are believed to be multidimensional, complex, and multifactorial in nature, suggesting a number of interacting clinical, demographic, and psychosocial characteristics contribute to symptom severity. However, we have yet to explore the relationships among these symptoms in the pediatric population living with IBD.

A new research study seeks to explore SPADE symptoms in teens with IBD.

Why was this study done?

Pediatric patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn’s Disease and ulcerative colitis, who take biologic medications (like infliximab and adalimumab) have decreased hospitalizations, surgery rates, and improved quality of life. However, biologic medicines are expensive. Biosimilars are similar biological therapies that are just as safe and effective as the original biologic medication, although they are often less expensive. There are currently two medications (infliximab/Remicade and adalimumab/Humira) used to treat IBD that have biosimilars available. Despite the cost savings, the utilization of biosimilars in the treatment of IBD has been low. The exact reasons why the utilization of biosimilars is low is not well known or well-studied.

The objective of this study was to evaluate pediatric gastroenterologists’ perspectives of biosimilars and to evaluate factors that impact pediatric gastroenterologists’ comfort level with prescribing biosimilars.

Why was this study done?

Pediatric patients with IBD have a higher rate of psychosocial needs than young people without IBD, including anxiety, low mood, fatigue, and body image complexities. Multidisciplinary care, including psychosocial providers (psychologists, social workers), is considered the standard of care in pediatric IBD. However, there is limited research exploring how medical providers (e.g., physicians) think about and engage with psychosocial providers in pediatric IBD.

Why was this study done?

Depression is the number one health problem in adolescents, and by age 18, 20% of adolescents will experience a major depressive episode. For kids and teens with inflammatory bowel disease, the risk for depression is high. One in three adolescents struggle with some form of depression. Depression is linked to (associated with) difficulty adhering to medication, worsened disease activity, and higher healthcare costs. Yet, little is known about depression screening practices in pediatric IBD care. An improved understanding of current screening practices is an important step toward promoting mental health in pediatrics.