Article Text
Abstract
Background and aims Little is known about the relationship between inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and body image. The aim of this systematic review was to summarise the evidence on body image dissatisfaction in patients with IBD across four areas: (1) body image tools, (2) prevalence, (3) factors associated with body image dissatisfaction in IBD and (4) association between IBD and quality of life.
Methods Two reviewers screened, selected, quality assessed and extracted data from studies in duplicate. EMBASE, MEDLINE, PsycINFO and Cochrane CENTRAL were searched to April 2018. Study design–specific critical appraisal tools were used to assess risk of bias. Narrative analysis was undertaken due to heterogeneity.
Results Fifty-seven studies using a body image tool were included; 31 for prevalence and 16 and 8 for associated factors and association with quality of life, respectively. Studies reported mainly mean or median scores. Evidence suggested female gender, age, fatigue, disease activity and steroid use were associated with increased body image dissatisfaction, which was also associated with decreased quality of life.
Conclusion This is the first systematic review on body image in patients with IBD. The evidence suggests that body image dissatisfaction can negatively impact patients, and certain factors are associated with increased body image dissatisfaction. Greater body image dissatisfaction was also associated with poorer quality of life. However, the methodological and reporting quality of studies was in some cases poor with considerable heterogeneity. Future IBD research should incorporate measurement of body image dissatisfaction using validated tools.
- systematic review
- inflammatory bowel disease
- body image
- quality of life
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Footnotes
Contributors SEB identified the topic, undertook scoping, defined the question, developed the protocol and wrote the draft of the manuscript. IMH contributed to the methods development and carried out second reviewer tasks as well as helping to draft, comment on and approve the final version of this paper. DM provided substantial methodological input to aid protocol development and assisted with drafting and reading, commenting on approving the final version. JD provided methodological input and read, commented on and edited the draft and approved the final version.
Funding During this research, IMH was funded by a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Research Methods—Systematic Review Fellowship and SEB was a locally funded trainee in systematic reviews at the University of Birmingham with agreement from the NIHR.
Disclaimer This article presents independent research funded by the NIHR. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health.
Competing interests None declared.
Patient consent for publication Not required.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.