(1) Background: Stress, anxiety, and depression have been identified as factors that influence the development of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The main aim of this study was to test the effectiveness of group multicomponent cognitive-behavioral therapy at reducing stress, anxiety, and depression, and improving quality of life and the clinical course of the disease. (2) Methods: A total of 120 patients were evaluated using the General Perceived Stress Scale, Scale of Stress Perceived by the Disease, the anxiety and depression scale, and quality of life questionnaire for patients with IBD. Disease activity was measured using the Mayo Index for ulcerative colitis and CDAI for Crohn's disease, as well as the number of relapses self-reported by patients. Patients were randomized to receive group multicomponent cognitive-behavioral therapy or treatment as usual. (3) Results: The psychological intervention reduced stress (EAE: 45.7 ± 8.8 vs. 40.6 ± 8.4, p = 0.0001; PSS: 28.0 ± 7.3 vs. 25.1 ± 5.9, p = 0.001) and improved quality of life (164.2 ± 34.3 vs. 176.2 ± 28.0, p = 0.001). An improvement was found in the number of relapses self-reported by patients (0.2 relapses/patient vs. control 0.7 relapses/patient; p = 0.027). No differences were found in disease activity indexes. (4) Conclusions: Psychological therapy was associated with improved stress, quality of life and with a decrease in the number of relapses self-reported by patients. Clinical trial registration number: NCT02614014

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Background Female gender could be a cause of diagnostic delay in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnostic delay in women vs men and potential causes. Methods This multicenter cohort study included 190 patients with recent diagnosis of IBD (disease duration <7 months). Reconstruction of the clinical presentation and diagnostic process was carried out in conjunction with the semistructured patient interview, review, and electronic medical records. Results The median time from symptom onset to IBD diagnosis was longer in women than in men: 12.6 (interquartile range, 3.7-31) vs 4.5 (2.2-9.8) months for Crohn’s disease (CD; P = .008) and 6.1 (3-11.2) vs 2.7 (1.5-5.6) months for ulcerative colitis (UC; P = .008). Sex was an independent variable related to the time to IBD diagnosis in Cox regression analysis. The clinical presentation of IBD was similar in both sexes. Women had a higher percentage of misdiagnosis than men (CD, odds ratio [OR], 3.9; 95% confidence [CI], 1.5-9.9; UC, OR 3.0; 95% CI, 1.2-7.4). Gender inequities in misdiagnosis were found at all levels of the health system (emergency department, OR 2.4; 95% CI, 1.1-5.1; primary care, OR 2.5; 95% CI, 1.3-4.7; gastroenterology secondary care, OR 3.2; 95% CI, 1.2-8.4; and hospital admission, OR 4.3; 95% CI, 1.1-16.9). Conclusions There is a longer diagnostic delay in women than in men for both CD and UC due to a drawn-out evaluation of women, with a higher number of misdiagnoses at all levels of the health care system.

Background Delayed diagnosis of IBD is associated with increased complications. Female gender is one of the factors most frequently associated with delayed diagnosis. Higher prevalence of functional gastrointestinal disorders in women probably hinders the diagnosis of IBD. The aim of this study is to explore delayed diagnosis of IBD and assess differences between women and men in healthcare access routes. Methods This multicentre prospective cohort study included 190 patients with newly diagnosed IBD. Data were collected on clinical and demographic characteristics, IBD activity and systematic reconstruction of the diagnostic process in a semi-structured interview together with a review of their medical record. Results Figure 1 shows clinical and demographic characteristics. In CD, patients’ symptoms were similar between both genders, except for a higher incidence of bowel incontinence, arthralgias, asthenia and other symptoms in women. In UC, there was no gender difference in clinical presentation. Overall, the median time from symptom onset to IBD diagnosis was 4.5(2.1–12.9) months, being significantly longer in women than in men, 7.8(3.3–18.9) vs. 3.8(1.7–7.8) p<0.001. In diagnostic process, the time from symptom onset to initial physician visit was 0.7(0.26–2) months with no statistically significant differences between women and men. While the time from initial physician visit to IBD diagnosis was 3.4(1.1–7.4) months with a longer time in women than in men 4.2(1.9–11.1) vs 2.2(0.82–5.1) p< 0.001. Figure 2 shows the different diagnostic times by sex in CD and UC. Misdiagnosis were reported in 61.6%, women had a higher percentage of misdiagnosis than men, 77.3% vs 48% (OR 3.6; 95% CI 1.9–6.9). These differences between women and men were maintained in CD 83% vs 55.3 (OR 3.9; 95% CI 1.5–9.9) and in UC 68.6% vs 41.8% (OR 3; 95% CI 1.2–7.4). Misdiagnosis were observed in 66/120 (55%) patients evaluated in Emergency Department, 89/166 (53.6%) in Primary Health Care, 25/122 (20.5%) in Gastroenterology Outpatient Clinics, 4/11(36.5) in another medical specialist, and 14/84 (16.7) in Hospital Admission. Women had a higher percentage of misdiagnosis, in Emergency Department 66.1%/44.3% (OR 2.4; 95% CI 1.1–5.1), Primary Health Care 65.1%/42.2% (OR 2.5; 95% CI 1.3–4.7), Gastroenterology Outpatient Clinics 29.5%/11.5% (OR 3.2; 95% CI 1.2–8.4) and Hospital Admission 25.6%/7.3% (OR 4.3; 95% CI 1.1–16.9). Figure 3 shows the distribution of the most frequently misdiagnosed pathologies prior to IBD diagnosis. Conclusion Delayed diagnosis of IBD in women affects both CD and CU, due to a longer delay in the diagnostic process since the patient consults for the first time. Gender biases in the misdiagnosis of IBD patients occur at all levels of health care.

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