Quality of life of patients and medical cost of half elemental diet as maintenance therapy for Crohn's disease: Secondary outcomes of a randomised controlled trial

Background/aim. Quality of life (QOL) of the patients and medical costs are important in current medical treatments, especially those for chronic diseases. We have reported the effectiveness of 'half elemental diet (ED)' as maintenance therapy for patients with Crohn's disease (CD). The aim of this study was to evaluate the QOL of CD patients and medical costs of half-ED. Methods. Fifty-one CD patients in remission were randomly assigned to a half-ED group (n = 26) or a free diet group (n = 25). The primary outcome measure was the occurrence of relapse during a 2-year period. This time, we investigated the QOL of the patients and medical costs of half-ED, as secondary outcomes. QOL was evaluated using the Japanese version of the IBDQ scoring system, and medical costs were calculated monthly from the receipts. Results. IBDQ score was not significantly different between the two groups at 1 and 13 months after the start of maintenance treatment. Medical costs were not significantly different between them either. This study showed that half-ED therapy did not affect the treatment of CD patients, neither regarding their QOL nor medical costs. Conclusion. This study has confirmed this half-ED therapy is beneficial for patients with Crohn's disease. (C) 2008 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.