Management of Crohn’s disease from efficacy, quality of life and health economic perspectives

Abstract

The expectations of the physician and patient in the modern management of Crohn’s disease have moved on from alleviation of symptoms whenever relapses occur, to sustained maintenance of remission and mucosal healing. The majority of treatment costs are as a consequence of hospitalizations and surgery. These heightened therapeutic goals are leading to expectations that management costs will decrease. Health-related quality of life can be measured by validated disease-specific tools in Crohn’s disease, and such measurements are now forming common outcome measures in clinical trials of new therapies in Crohn’s disease. This review gives an overview of patient-focused management of Crohn’s disease and the rapid evolution in therapy, with pharmacoeconomic analysis where available.

• azathioprine
• inflammatory bowel disease
• quality of life
• infliximab
• pharmacoeconomics