Abstract: Informed patients are one of the most important assets available in the management of patients with ulcerative colitis. Clinical experience reinforces that most patients have similar questions upon diagnosis. Anticipating these questions and tailoring them to a particular patient's disease severity and extent should not only streamline follow-up but also mitigate confusion and augment the benefit of the plethora of information available in the 21st century. Using our local experience, we have defined the 10 most common questions asked by patients and modified the answers, where necessary, to improve their specificity to patients with ulcerative proctitis, left-sided ulcerative colitis, and pancolitis.
Patients can be relatively ill informed regarding the nature of their UC, its management, and its ultimate prognosis.
Generally, disease extent is divided into three categories: ulcerative proctitis, left-sided disease, and pancolitis.
A simple approach with frequently asked questions (FAQs) is a highly desirable and efficient means of transmitting information.
Clinical experience reinforces that most patients have similar questions upon diagnosis with UC.
Anticipating these questions and tailoring them to a particular patient's disease severity and extent should streamline follow-up and also mitigate confusion.
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Le patient venant de recevoir un diagnostic de colite ulcéreuse : Prévoir les questions et personaliser les réponses
Teaser:
James Gregor, M.D., est membre du département de gastroentérologie de l'Université Western Ontario, London (Ontario).
Co-auteurs : John Howard, M.D., Nitin Khanna, M.D. et Nilesh Chande, M.D. sont membres du département de gastro-entérologie du London Health Sciences Centre (Université Western) London (Ontario).
Résumé
L'un des atouts les plus importants dans la prise en charge des patients atteints de colite ulcéreuse consiste à avoir des patients bien informés. L'expérience clinique montre que la plupart des patients ont des questions similaires lors de leur diagnostic. En anticipant ces questions et en les adaptant à la gravité et l'étendue de la maladie d'un patient, il est possible non seulement de simplifier le suivi, mais également de réduire la confusion et d'augmenter les bienfaits apportés par la pléthore de renseignements disponibles au 21e siècle. D'après notre expérience locale, nous avons défini les 10 questions les plus couramment posées par les patients et modifié les réponses, au besoin, pour qu'elles soient mieux adaptées aux patients atteints de rectite ou proctite ulcéreuse, de colite ulcéreuse gauche ou de pancolite. Mos clés : colite ulcéreuse, patient, questions, classification, prise en charge.
Innovative applications of the mobile phone are quickly emerging in clinical practice as a time- and money-saving tool for physicians and patients alike. Physicians from Graz's University Medical School in Austria have successfully monitored from afar the blood pressures and heart rates of 25 people with hypertension using mobile phones. In the comfort of their own homes, patients entered key values, including blood pressure, pulse and body weight, on a regular basis into their mobiles using a specially developed software program. Immediately, physicians were informed of a patient's vitals, while the software alerted them to intervene if a patient's values became too high or too low. Patients, in turn, were able to receive almost instant remote advice from their physicians.
Meanwhile, researchers in the U.K. are preparing a pilot study of remote monitoring of asthmatics via mobile phone. A newly developed device hooks a peak flow meter up to a mobile phone that gathers, records and submits accurate asthma data in real-time to physicians. Furthermore, an electronic diary enables patients to describe, and then transmit, their symptoms on a daily basis. At any time, GPs or nurses have access to their patients' data stored on the server, allowing them to monitor their patients' conditions with up-to-date, accurate and reliable data. Initially, 100 asthmatics will receive the mobile device for the duration of the trial. Researchers hope the innovation will provide a more efficient, proactive management of asthma and perhaps help understand the relationships between symptoms and a patient's environment, by analysing whether symptoms are exacerbated at home or at work.
