LINKING CROHN'S DISEASE HEALTH STATUS MEASUREMENTS WITH INTERNATIONAL CLASSIFICATION OF FUNCTIONING, DISABILITY AND HEALTH AND VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION OUTCOMES

Objective: The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) serves as a unifying model for rehabilitation medicine. Variables of the health status measurements, the Crohn's Disease Activity Index and the Harvey-Bradshaw Index, have not been linked with the ICF categories and compared with other predictors of rehabilitation outcomes. Methods: Crohn's Disease Activity Index variables were linked with ICF categories using linking rules. A chart review included the patients of our in-patient rehabilitation centre during one year (n=355) with International Classification of Disease Codes for Crohn's disease (ICD K50). We identified variables linked with clinical improvement (decrease in the Harvey-Bradshaw Index of >= 2 U) and rehabilitation success (conversion from unfit-to-work to fit-to-work) by multivariate logistic regression. Results: The ICF component, activities and participation, was not represented in the Crohn's Disease Activity Index and the Harvey-Bradshaw Index. A Harvey-Bradshaw Index >= 5 U was associated with clinical improvement during rehabilitation (odds ratio 5.65 (95% CI 3.41-9.35)). Normal C-reactive protein (odds ratio 2.8 (95% CI 1.1-7.0)) and higher body mass index (odds ratio (per 1 kg/m(2) increase) 1.1 (95% CI 1.0-1.2)), but not Harvey-Bradshaw Index, were associated with vocational rehabilitation success in 124 patients who were initially unfit-to-work. Conclusion: Variables representing activities and participation as well as immune functions may improve Crohn's disease health status measurements on the basis of better prediction of vocational rehabilitation success.