Background: Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) suffer from various physical as well as psychological impairments, and patient education may help improve their well-being. Therefore, we developed a manualized education program for IBD patients addressing medical and psychological issues. This study aimed to evaluate it in a large controlled trial. Methods: A total of 181 IBD outpatients participated in a prospective, randomized, waitlist-controlled trial; assessments were made before as well as 2 weeks and 3 months after intervention. Analysis of covariance was used to assess intervention effects on disease-related worries and concerns (primary outcome), fear of progression, coping with anxiety, health competencies, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), perceived disease activity, symptoms of depression and anxiety, disease-related knowledge, and coping strategies. Participants' satisfaction with the program was also evaluated. Results: At 2 weeks and 3 months after intervention, we found significant large effects of our education program on skill and technique acquisition, knowledge, and coping with IBD. Moreover, we found significant medium effects on disease-related worries and concerns, fear of progression, coping with anxiety, constructive attitudes and approaches, as well as coping with disease-related negative emotions. The number of coping strategies used was significantly higher at 3 months. We did not find any effects on perceived disease activity, HRQoL, positive and active engagement in life, or symptoms of anxiety and depression. The program was rated very favorably by the attendees. Conclusion: Our education program contributed to improvements in psychological distress, self-management skills, and coping and was appreciated by its attendees.

Patient education programmes, i. e. standardized, manualized, interactive group programmes aiming to increase self-management and empowerment, are a core element of medical rehabilitation for chronic conditions. In an update of the evidence of the effectiveness of patient education, its effectiveness was proven for a broad spectrum of chronic disorders, such as diabetes mellitus, chronic low back pain, rheumatoid arthritis, coronary heart disease, chronic heart failure, bronchial asthma, COPD, and cancer, as well as for the modification of health behaviours, such as diet and exercise. To sustain effects, aftercare interventions, such as support provided by phone, were found to be successful. Interventions targeted to particular patient groups according to gender, age, or migration background are also being developed more frequently. When evaluating educational interventions not only distal outcomes, such as quality of life and participation, should be used but also proximal outcomes such as self-management skills. A recent survey of patient education practice in medical rehabilitation revealed a continuing potential for optimization relative to manualization, evaluation and didactics. However, the dissemination of innovative programmes into rehabilitation routine presents a major challenge.

Although inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) affects patients' psychological well-being, previous educational programs have failed to demonstrate effects on psychosocial outcomes and quality of life. Therefore, we developed a group-based psychoeducational program that combined provision of both medical information and psychological self-management skills, delivered in an interactive manner, and evaluated it in a large, cluster-randomized trial. We assigned 540 rehabilitation inpatients suffering from IBD (mean age 43 years, 66% female) to either the new intervention or a control group comprising the same overall intensity and the same medical information, but only general psychosocial information. The primary outcome was patient-reported IBD-related concerns. Secondary outcomes included disease knowledge, coping, self-management skills, fear of progression, anxiety, depression and quality of life. Assessments took place at baseline, end of rehabilitation and after 3 and 12 months.The psychoeducational self-management program did not prove superior to the control group regarding primary and secondary outcomes. However, positive changes over time occurred in both groups regarding most outcomes. The superior effectiveness of the newly developed psychoeducational program could not be demonstrated. Since the intervention and control groups may have been too similar, this trial may have been too conservative to produce between-group effects.

A need for further improvement and support exists relative to the training of educators and the development of manuals as well as evaluation and publication of the programmes.

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