Exploring Long-Term Dietary Diversity in Irish Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Its Relationship with Disease Activity and Treatment Response

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a chronic inflammatory condition that primarily acts on the digestive system causing phases of discomfort and flare-ups. Its two main forms include Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). While diet is known to influence disease progression, the impact of specific dietary patterns and components on treatment outcomes is not yet understood. Therefore, the aim of the study is to investigate the long-term eating habits of Irish patients with IBD and evaluate the possible associations between dietary choices, disease activity, and response to advanced therapy. Diet was assessed either by analyzing the intake of specific food groups and components or by summarizing dietary patterns into scores, such as the Healthy Food Diversity Index (HFD), Healthy Eating Index (HEI), Empirical Dietary Inflammatory Index (EDII), and a simple dietary diversity score. The intention was the identification of potential associations between dietary patterns, disease activity and therapy response. In order to explore these associations statistical analyses were used. A total of 92 patients with IBD, 37 UC and 55 CD cases, were assessed at three timepoints: baseline, 2 weeks after the beginning of biologic treatment and 6 weeks after treatment initiation. Disease activity was measured via the Harvey-Bradshaw Index (HBI) for CD and the Simple Clinical Colitis Activity Index (SCCAI) for UC. A decrease in HBI and SCCAI scores of more than 3 points at the third timepoit determined the treatment response. Long-term dietary habits were captured with a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Diet is pivotal in managing IBD, underlining the possibility for dietary choices to enhance medical treatments and improve the outcomes for the patients.