Why I Didn’t Like a Study on Resilience Plus One

Posted on by

P Sehgal et al. Inflamm Bowel Dis 2021; 27: 791-796. High Levels of Psychological Resilience Associated With Less Disease Activity, Better Quality of Life, and Fewer Surgeries in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

This cross-sectional study with 229 patients examined the relationship between inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) activity and resilience based on the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale questionnaire (high resilience score ≥ 35).

Key findings:

  • High resilience was noted in 27% of patients with UC and 21.5% of patients with CD.
  • Among patients with UC, those with high resilience had a mean Mayo score of 1.54, and those with low resilience had a mean Mayo score of 4.31, P < 0.001.
  • Among patients with CD, those with high resilience had a mean HBI of 2.31, and those with low resilience had a mean HBI of 3.95, P = 0.035.
  • In multivariable analysis, high resilience was independently associated with lower disease activity in both UC (P < 0.001) and CD (P = 0.037) and with higher QoL (P = 0.016).
  • High resilience was also associated with fewer surgeries (P = 0.001) among patients with CD.

Reading this study, made me think of Galen’s assertion about a different treatment, circa 100 AD:   “All who drink of this remedy recover in a short time except those whom it does not help, who all die. It is obvious, therefore, that it fails only in incurable cases.” In the case of this study, the remedy is resiliency.

This study is intriguing and adds to the literature that mental health and IBD may be a two-way street: mental health may affect IBD and IBD activity may affect mental health. However, it is difficult to prove causation in a cross-sectional study. Reverse causation is possible; that is higher disease burden may result in lower resilience.

Also, it is not clear to me that resilience is a particularly modifiable factor. Some may interpret this study in a ‘blame the victim’ mode. I think a lot of individuals would think they are resilient but most do not know until they face a difficult situation. Perhaps, Mike Tyson’s assertion is more apt: “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”

My take: This study does not prove that resilience helps prevent IBD activity, though being resilient is nice if you have it.

Plus one: JR Rosh et al. J Crohns Colitis. 2021 May 26; jjab089. doi: 10.1093/ecco-jcc/jjab089. (EPUB). Ustekinumab in Pediatric Patients with Moderately to Severely Active Crohn’s Disease Pharmacokinetics, Safety, and Efficacy Results from UniStar, a Phase 1 Study This was a “multicentre, 16-week, double-blind induction dose-ranging study (NCT02968108), patients aged 2-<18 years; patients were randomized (1:1) to one of 2 weight range-based intravenous induction doses: 130mg vs 390mg in patients ≥40kg and 3mg/kg vs 9mg/kg in patients <40kg. At week 8, all patients received a single subcutaneous ustekinumab maintenance dose of 90mg in patients ≥40kg or 2mg/kg in patients <40kg..” (Kudos to my partner, Stanley Cohen, one of the authors)

Key finding:  Pharmacokinetics were similar to those in adults with Crohn’s disease. However, serum ustekinumab concentrations were lower among those with body weight <40kg…These results suggest a different dosing regimen may be required for patients <40kg

Related blog posts:

Image below from Anne’s Beach (Lower Matecumbe Key, Florida)