Put to Test: Medical Inpatient Rehabilitation of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

Background: Many CED-patients struggle with complex problem profiles and may be offered and profit from multidisciplinary multimodal rehabilitation. It is still unclear by whom and with what effects this option is used. Methods: We compared the results of an observational cohort study of 199 CED-inpatients of a single rehab clinic with those of 310 gastro-enterological outpatients using propensity score matching. Results: Rehabilitands show more complex problem profiles than CED-outpatients. After 6 months of follow up direct and indirect change measures show generally small positive changes however comparable in quality and size with that of matched outpatients. Conclusion: Complex rehab is mainly used by CED-patients with several bio-psycho-social problems. Our preliminary data do not suggest a marked additional benefit of inpatient rehab compared to specialised outpatient care. Stricter controlled trials are urgently needed.