Being Me with IBD

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Being Me with IBD. Growing up and Getting on with my Life.

  • IRAS ID

    242755

  • Contact name

    Bernie (Mary Bernadette) Carter

  • Contact email

    bernie.carter@edgehill.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    Edge Hill University

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    1 years, 1 months, 0 days

  • Research summary

    Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is an incurable chronic, relapsing condition and clinical symptoms include fatigue, abdominal pain, anorexia, diarrhoea and weight loss. The symptoms and treatment associated with IBD can make young people feel isolated and make it more difficult to maintain existing friendships and generate new ones. In turn, this can impact on young people's mental health and wellbeing.

    In this study we aim to explore the impact of having IBD on the social relationships of young people aged 14-25 years.

    We will be guided by an advisory group of at least 4 young people with.

    By using questionnaires, we aim to look at a range of factors including friendships, loneliness, anxiety, health and young people's sense of control over their lives. We aim to recruit a minimum of 120 young people from two settings (Liverpool and London) and ask them to complete the survey before/at end of a 'routine' clinic appointment or during a routine hospital attendance.

    We plan to ask up to 40 young people, who completed a questionnaire to take part in interviews about their own experiences of living with IBD. We will ask them to draw a map of their friendships and to take photographs about the positive aspects of friendship and the things about IBD that threaten their friendships.

    We will analyse the survey data using appropriate statistical tests and the interviews and photographs by creating themes to help us understand the young people's experiences.

    We plan to produce outputs such as videos, posters or leaflets, and use blogs, webinars and social media to help spread the messages from the study to young people, parents/carers/guardians, and professionals.

  • REC name

    North West - Liverpool Central Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    18/NW/0178

  • Date of REC Opinion

    11 Jun 2018

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion