P649 Dietary habits in patients with inactive Crohn’s disease: Results of a controlled study
N. Ben Mustapha, H. Ben Youssef, A. Labidi, M. Hafi, M. Fekih, M. Serghini, J. Boubaker
La Rabta Hospital Tunis El Manar University, Department of Gastroenterology A, Tunis, Tunisia
Background
The purpose of this study was to compare the dietary habits of patients with Crohn’s disease in remission with a control group.
Methods
This is a comparative cross-sectional descriptive study that took place over a period of one month including 45 patients already managed for Crohn’s disease (CD), who had been in stable clinical remission for at least 6 months at the time of the survey and had the same treatment for at least 6 months compared with a group of 40 healthy volunteers adjusted for age, sex and body mass index (BMI) recruited among health personnel. Questionnaires about dietary habits, patients’ attitudes and beliefs about diet and its impact on their illness, and a dietary history-type food survey were asked and completed for all subjects.
Results
Total energy and macronutrient intakes were comparable in both groups and adapted to the guidelines. Fibre and micronutrient intakes were significantly lower in CD group, as was the consumption of dairy products, legumes, vegetables and fruits, oleaginous fruit. There were multiple dietary restrictions among CD patients including milk and its derivatives, fruits, vegetables, and legumes. In fact, 11% of them continued to strictly follow the same residue-free diet prescribed at the time of flares and others had barely expanded their diet. The reasons were mainly represented by the fear of triggering digestive disorders in 77% of cases. Fifty-six per cent of patients believed that fibre and milk negatively affect their disease and could trigger digestive disorders. Forty-four per cent said that the avoided foods gave them digestive disorders. By stratifying patients by age, sex or disease characteristics (location, treatment, history of surgery), we found no predictive factor for these dietary restrictions. Moreover, in 23% of patients, the diet was totally obscured by the doctor during consultations. In addition, and despite the discussion with the doctor about food, 46% turned to other sources such as the entourage, other patients, media and internet to find information on their diet.
Conclusion
Our study shows that patients with Crohn’s disease in remission suffer from several deficiencies due to multiple dietary exclusions. The results suggest that an unbalanced diet should be identified to avoid the micronutrient deficiency observed and highlights the importance of communication about diet between Doctors and patients.