The Association of Diet and Physical Activity with Disease Activity in Ulcerative Colitis (P18-091-19)

Data on diet and physical activity in ulcerative colitis patients are scarce and frequently mixed with data of patients with Crohn's disease. Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate habitual diet and physical activity of ulcerative colitis patients and to determine whether there is an association with disease activity. In this cross-sectional study, data of 172 subjects were collected via an online questionnaire that consisted of several validated questionnaires: the Patient Simple Clinical Colitis Activity Index (P-SCCAI) to assess disease activity, a Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) to assess habitual nutrient intake and the Short QUestionnaire to ASsess Health-enhancing physical activity (SQUASH) to assess habitual physical activity. Nutrient intake was used to calculate the Adjusted Dietary Inflammatory Index (ADII). Physical activity data were used to calculate intensity levels (light, moderate or vigorous intensity) and duration of activity (min/week). These were used combined with age to calculate activity scores. Correlations between the ADII and physical activity with disease activity were investigated. The ADII ranged from −5.45 to 3.79 with a mean (±SD) of 0.00 (±1.55). The mean ADII was anti-inflammatory (−0.08) in subjects in remission, while it was pro-inflammatory in subjects with mild and moderately active ulcerative colitis (0.06 and 0.42, respectively), although the correlation between ADII and disease activity was not significant. With regard to physical activity, most minutes per week were spent on light to moderate activity at work or school (median [IQR] of 1375 [825]). The activity with the highest activity score was heavy activity at work or school (median [IQR] of 2160 [6480]). Subjects mostly performed activities of light intensity (median [IQR] of 840 [1575]). No significant differences in intensity levels, duration and activity score between subjects in remission and mild or moderately active ulcerative colitis were found. Also, no correlations were found between intensity levels, duration and activity score with disease activity. We found no associations of diet and physical activity with disease activity in patients with ulcerative colitis. N.A.