Delphi method to determine a list of questionnaire-assessed parameters in the follow-up of patients with inflammatory bowel disease

BACKGROUND: Patients with inflammatory bowel disease often require lifelong follow-up by a clinician. Telemedicine monitoring is a promising area of such healthcare services, often based on the evaluation of patients’ remote questionnaire results by a medical practitioner.

AIM: To define, using the Delphi method, a list of questionnaire-assessed parameters for monitoring and treating patients with IBD.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted in three stages. An electronic survey form was created to collect information, ensuring that the respondent’s experience was included when completing the survey. In the first stage, respondents answered an open-ended question about what parameters assessed by questionnaires should be monitored in patients with IBD. In the second stage, participants answered the same question but selected any number of items from a list. In the third stage, the responses were analyzed. The primary endpoint was a consensus on each parameter, defined as >75% respondent agreement.

RESULTS: The study had 15 participants, 13.3% of whom were male. Of all respondents, 46% worked in an outpatient setting, whereas 54% worked in an inpatient setting. Their ages ranged from 25 to 53 years, with 53% of the participants having 1–4 years of experience and 47% having 17–29 years of experience. None of the parameters reached a 75% agreement level based on the results of the first stage. In the second stage, respondents reached a consensus on 72% of the parameters. No relationship was found between respondents’ age, sex, years of experience, or job settings and responses in the first and second stages.

CONCLUSIONS: The final list of parameters recommended for evaluation during the monitoring and treatment of patients with IBD included abdominal pain, frequency of defecation and stool quality, presence of pathological stool impurities, body temperature, joint/muscle pain, sleep quality, anxiety, depression, work capacity for employed/ability to attend lessons for students, energy and quantity of vigor, fixation on the disease, patients’ general evaluation of their quality of life, and treatment adherence.