Long-term quality of life after acute uncomplicated diverticulitis: A cross-sectional study

Background: Diverticulitis is a common medical condition that usually affects older patients. Antibiotic therapy in patients with acute uncomplicated diverticulitis (AUD) has been questioned. Currently, there is limited data on the quality of life (QoL) of patients after AUD. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the long-term QoL in patients with AUD and to assess if antibiotic therapy or recurrent disease impacts the QoL of patients. Design: Cross-sectional questionnaire study. Setting: Two teaching hospitals in Southern Sweden. Patient and Methods: The records of patients who were treated for AUD from 2015 to 2017 were extracted, and their medical charts were used to gather data. Three questionnaires (EuroQol-5 Dimension-5L, the Gastrointestinal Quality of Life Index, and the short health scale) were sent 3–5 years after hospitalization (year 2020) to evaluate the QoL of the patients. Main Outcome Measure: Long-term QoL measured by the aforementioned questionnaires. Sample Size: The original cohort was reduced to 509 due to death, duplications, and sigmoid colectomy. The final patient cohort consisted of 273 patients after exclusion of non-responders or patients who declined participation. Results: In the EuroQol-5 Dimension scale, 147 (55%) patients reported problems in one or more QoL dimension but only 4% experienced severe problems. The Gastrointestinal Quality of Life Index median score was 105.0 (90.0–113.8), while the median short health scale score was 4.0 (0.9–12.5). Among the patients, 76% were treated with antibiotics, but no differences were observed between the antibiotics and no antibiotics groups in any QoL score. Recurrent disease was associated with lower QoL scores. Conclusion: This study showed that 161 (59%) of the patients with AUD experienced QoL problems, with recurrent disease being a risk factor. Antibiotic therapy did not affect the long-term QoL of the patients. Larger prospective studies are needed to confirm these results, and future efforts should be made to prevent the recurrence of AUD. Limitations: Limited sample size, non-randomized study. Conflict of Interest: The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.