Key qualitative themes | |
1. | Some clinicians had the view that CD is commonly found incidentally and that the majority of patients are asymptomatic and do not require medical interventions. |
2. | Most doctors believed that the input of a gastroenterologist is only required for confirming the diagnosis of CD. They suggested that all coeliac patients should then be managed in the community or by a dietitian. |
3. | It was often suggested that the impact on a coeliac patient’s quality of life is due to their dietary restrictions and lifestyle changes, rather than the burden of their symptoms. There was a suggestion that IBD patients suffer more from their symptoms. |
4. | Doctors suggested that patients with severe and persisting symptoms have a worse quality of life than those with IBD, however, in their opinion, there were few patients with significant symptoms of CD compared with those with IBD. |
CD, coeliac disease; IBD, inflammatory bowel disease.