Inflammatory bowel diseases and the general practitioner’s role in a region of Central Italy

Abstract

Background:Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are a serious burden for both patients and health care providers because of the young age at which they occur and their chronic course.Aim:The purpose of this study was to assess how general practitioners (GPs) in the area of Camerino-Matelica, Marche (Central Italy) manage their patients with IBD.Materials and methods:Before providing an educational course about IBD to GPs, we administered a simple questionnaire containing 10 multiple-choice questions, allowing for only one possible answer, to GPs in the target area. After the educational course we administered a satisfaction questionnaire and evaluated the hospitalization rates for IBD in the catchment area in the year following the course.Results:In our GP sample, 71.8% indicated that they needed better instruction regarding IBD to enable them to diagnose the conditions given the difficulties posed by nonspecific symptoms and the need to use invasive diagnostic methods such as colonoscopy. Early results after the educational course for GPs indicate a reduced rate of hospitalization for IBD but these data must be confirmed by future research.Conclusions:If specialists and GPs managed IBD patients more carefully, their patients would probably suffer from fewer relapses and would have a better quality of life, which would be likely to mean considerable cost savings for the public health care system and society in general.

The role of primary care physicians in early diagnosis and treatment of chronic gastrointestinal diseases

“…These weaknesses can be overcome with the active involvement of the PCP, who will contribute significantly to the continuous, coordinated, and holistic health care for patients with IBD. This is supported by available data showing that satisfaction with the primary physician did not depend on physician type (for example, GE versus general practitioner) 81,82. However, it should be emphasized that data concerning the degree of involvement of PCPs in management of IBD patients are limited.…”

Ulcerative colitis outpatient management: development and evaluation of tools to support primary care practitioners

“…We recently performed a systematic review that documented a paucity of UC educational tools and/or guidelines for primary healthcare practitioners and an absence of action plans with individualised treatment plans for UC. This is despite two separate surveys reporting that 70% of general practitioners (GP) would value such clinical support tools and contrasts with chronic diseases such as asthma, congestive cardiac failure and diabetes where such tools are readily found, and additionally, at least for asthma, action plans are also easily discovered …”

Knowledge and attitudes of primary healthcare physicians toward the diagnosis and management of inflammatory bowel disease following an educational intervention: A comparative analysis

“…also reported that 71.8% of 39 GPs working in the Marche region of Central Italy required better instructions when it came to IBD cases. [17] Theoretically, if PHC physician's knowledge and experience with IBD is insufficient, suboptimal management of IBD would occur, which may lead to misidentification of flares, inappropriate use of corticosteroids, overuse of aminosalicylates, or delay in delivering appropriate interventions. [15] Since IBD is no longer considered a rare disease, providing IBD-centered education for PHC physicians could aid in avoiding future morbidity of IBD by early referral and management.…”