Health-related Physical Fitness in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

The study involves one or two study visits for patients with IBD and only one study visit for healthy volunteers. During the first study visit, all participants (n=200) will perform the tests of the assessment battery for HRPF and complete several questionnaires. A representative subgroup of patients with IBD will undergo the gold standard measurements for HRPF during a second study visit. Furthermore, total physical activity measured by accelerometry will be measured in this subgroup of patients.

Inclusion criteria

for all participants:

• Any gender aged 18 years or older;
• American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Physical Status I or II (i.e., normal healthy patient or a patient with mild systemic disease)
• No contraindications for exercise testing based on the PAR-Q
• Being able to provide written informed consent;
• Willing and able to complete questionnaires and perform performance tests;
• Being able to understand written Dutch and speak the Dutch language.

Inclusion criteria

specific for patients with IBD:

• Certified diagnosis of IBD (UC or CD) based on the combination of endoscopic, radiological, and/or histological findings;
• No active disease or experiencing mild to moderate disease activity.
• Included in eHealth clinical care-pathway using myIBDcoach.

Inclusion criteria

specific for healthy volunteers:

• No certified diagnosis of IBD (CD, UC, IBD-Unclassified);

Exclusion criteria

for all participants:

• ASA Physical Status > II (i.e., patient with severe systemic disease);
• Contraindications for exercise testing based on PAR-Q
• Other (temporary) injuries or severe (neuro)muscular, rheumatic, or orthopedic conditions that may interfere with study evaluations;
• Current malignancy (except for local cutaneous skin cancer) or successfully treated for a malignancy in the past 6 months;
• Pregnant or lactating women;
• Competitive and elite athletes (i.e., ≥6 hours/week of moderate to vigorous exercise)
• Not being able to understand or speak the Dutch language;
• Not being able to cooperate with test procedures or unable to provide informed consent.