Transition clinic attendance is associated with improved beliefs and attitudes toward medicine in patients with inflammatory bowel disease

Table 1 Demographics

	Transition	Control	P value
	n (%) ormean ± SD	n (%) ormean ± SD
Gender
Female	23 (40.4)	31 (56.4)	0.13
Diagnosis
CD	47 (79.7)	34 (64.2)	0.07
UC/IBDU	12 (20.3)	19 (35.8)
Age (yr)
At diagnosis	13.0 ± 2.9	13.0 ± 3.8	0.87
Current	19.7 ± 1.3	20.6 ± 1.2	0.0012
Disease duration (yr)	6.9 ± 3.2	7.6 ± 3.9	0.30
Prior GI surgery	13 (22.0)	12 (21.8)	0.98
Medication1
5-ASA	14 (25.0)	20 (37.0)	0.24
IM	17 (30.4)	12 (22.2)	0.33
Anti-TNF	6 (10.7)	6 (11.1)	1.00
Combination	13 (23.2)	5 (9.3)	0.07
Any	43 (76.8)	37 (68.5)	0.33
Regular blood work	45 (80.4)	30 (55.6)	0.012

¹Subgroups in medication row denote patients receiving oral 5-ASA products, IM only, anti-TNF only, combination therapy (IM and anti-TNF) only, or any IBD medication;

²Statistically significant. 5-ASA: 5-aminosalicylic acid; anti-TNF: Anti-tumour necrosis factor agents including infliximab and adalimumab; CD: Crohn’s disease; IBDU: Inflammatory bowel disease unspecified; IM: Immunomodulators including methotrexate, 6-mercaptopurine, and azathioprine; UC: Ulcerative colitis.

Table 2 Disease-specific knowledge and self-reported adherence to prescribed medical therapy n (%)

	Transition	Control	P value
Knowledge1
Diagnosis	44 (78.6)	44 (80.0)	1.00
Prior GI surgery	50 (84.7)	49 (89.1)	0.49
Adherence2
Medication3
5-ASA	8 (57.1)	13 (65.0)	0.73
IM	10 (58.8)	7 (58.3)	1.00
Anti-TNF	5 (83.3)	3 (50.0)	0.55
Combination	13 (76.9)	4 (80.0)	1.00
Any	29 (67.4)	21 (56.8)	0.33
Regular blood work	31 (68.9)	18 (60.0)	0.43

¹Knowledge is defined as concordant physician records and patient responses;

²Adherence is defined as missing less than 30% of prescribed therapy;

³Subgroups in medication row denote patients receiving oral 5-ASA products, IM only, anti-TNF only, combination therapy (IM and anti-TNF) only, or any IBD medication. 5-ASA: 5-aminosalicylic acid; anti-TNF: Anti-tumour necrosis factor agents including infliximab and adalimumab; IM: Immunomodulators including methotrexate, 6-mercaptopurine, and azathioprine.

Table 3 Beliefs about and attitudes toward medicine

	Transition	Control	P value
	n (%) ormean ± SD	n (%) ormean ± SD
Beliefs about medicine1
Specific
Necessity	17.2 ± 3.8	15.0 ± 4.0	0.00353
	3.4 ± 0.8	3.0 ± 0.8
Concern	16.1 ± 4.0	15.3 ± 3.5	0.29
	3.2 ± 0.8	3.1 ± 0.7
Differential	1.1 ± 4.7	-0.3 ± 4.7	0.11
	0.2 ± 0.9	-0.06 ± 0.9
General
Overuse	9.7 ± 2.5	9.4 ± 2.9	0.63
	3.2 ± 0.8	3.1 ± 1.0
Harm	14.9 ± 2.7	14.7 ± 2.8	0.70
	3.7 ± 0.7	3.7 ± 0.7
Attitudes toward medicine2
Accepting	10 (16.9)	12 (22.6)	0.45
Ambivalent	36 (61.0)	18 (34.0)	0.0043
Skeptical	4 (6.8)	11 (20.8)	0.033
Indifferent	9 (15.3)	12 (22.6)	0.32
Composite			0.023

¹Results presented in each subcategory were summative (top) and scaled (bottom). Differential was calculated by subtracting concerns score from necessity score;

²Four attitudinal groups were created after dichotomizing scaled necessity and concerns scores above or below midpoint (< 3 high or ≥ 3 low) giving: accepting (high necessity, low concerns), ambivalent (high necessity, high concerns), skeptical (low necessity, high concerns), and indifferent (low necessity, low concerns);

³Statistically significant.