ORIGINAL ARTICLE The INSPIRE Study: Are Different Personality Traits Related to Disease-Specific Quality of Life (IBDQ) in Distressed Patients with Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s Disease? Birgitte Boye, MD, PhD,* † Jorgen Jahnsen, MD, PhD, ‡ Kjell Mokleby, PhD, † Siv Leganger, PhD, † Gu ¨nter Jantschek, MD, PhD, § Ingrid Jantschek, MD, § Sebastian Kunzendorf, MD, § Dieter Benninghoven, PhD, § Ingvard Wilhelmsen, MD, PhD, P¶ Michael Sharpe, MD,** Svein Blomhoff, MD, PhD, † Ulrik F. Malt, MD, PhD,* † and Knut E A. Lundin, MD, PhD ††‡‡ Background: To explore the relationship between personality and disease-specific quality of life [Inflammatory Bowel Disease Question- naire (IBDQ)] in distressed [Perceived Stress Questionnaire (PSQ)] patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD). Methods: Included in the study were 56 patients with UC and 54 patients with CD ranging in age from 18 to 60 years with a relapse in the previous 18 months, a UC or CD activity index  4, a PSQ  60, and without serious mental or other serious medical condition. The patients completed the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire, the Neuroticism and Lie (social conformity/desirability) scales of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (LOC) Scale [Internal (I), Powerful Other (PO), Chance (C)], the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, and the IBDQ. Results: In linear regression controlling for sex, education (years), and clinical disease activity (AI) in separate analyses of UC and CD patients, higher IBDQ score was related to less social conformity in CD and less neuroticism in UC; higher emotional function score was related to less neuroticism in both CD and UC and less PO-LOC in UC. Higher social function score was related to less social confor- mity in CD and lower I-LOC and PO-LOC in UC. Bowel function and systemic symptoms were unrelated to personality in either UC or CD. Conclusions: Although the emotional function subscale was re- lated to neuroticism in both UC and CD, the social function subscale and total IBDQ were related to different personality traits in UC and CD. Personality traits should be taken into account when using IBDQ in studies. (Inflamm Bowel Dis 2008;14:680 – 686) Key Words: inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn’s disease, person- ality, quality of life, ulcerative colitis I nflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) include ulcerative coli- tis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD). Both diseases are chronic, with remissions and relapses over the years. 1,2 Symptoms include abdominal cramps and pain, diarrhea, weight loss, and bleeding from the intestines. To obtain a comprehensive assessment of the health status and quality of life of patients with IBD, the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (IBDQ) has been developed. 3,4 The IBDQ is often used as one of several outcome measures in treatment studies. 3–6 It has been recommended to be used routinely as a secondary outcome measure in prospective randomized, controlled trials of IBD to ensure that the quality of life is improved. 7 The assumption is that IBDQ scores are valid measures of the symptom load and psychosocial effects of the disease on the person and thus can be used as a way of monitoring the effect of different pharmacological treat- ments. However, this assumption does not consider that sev- eral disease-unrelated variables significantly affect IBDQ scores. Sociodemographic variables such as sex and education may influence level of IBDQ. 8 –10 Recently, stable personality traits such as neuroticism and alexithymia (difficulty describ- ing feelings) were found to be related to IBDQ in a mixed Received for publication September 12, 2007; accepted November 13, 2007. From the *Institute of Psychiatry, University of Oslo, Norway; † Depart- ment of Neuropsychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine, Division of Clinical Neurosciences, Rikshospitalet University Hospital, Oslo; Norway; ‡ Depart- ment of Gastroenterology, Aker University Hospital, Oslo, Norway; § De- partment of Psychosomatic and Psychotherapy, University-Clinic Schleswig- Holstein, Campus Lu ¨beck, Germany; P Institute of Internal Medicine, University of Bergen, Norway; ¶ Haraldsplass Deaconal Hospital, Bergen, Norway; **School of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, University of Ed- inburgh, United Kingdom; †† Department of Internal Medicine, Gastroenter- ology section, Division of Medicine, Rikshospitalet University Hospital, Oslo; Norway; and ‡‡ Rikshospitalet Faculty Group, University of Oslo, Norway. Supported by the Norwegian Research Council (project number160044/ v50) and Helse-Soer (project number 3b-111). Reprints: Birgitte Boye, Department of Neuropsychiatry and Psychoso- matic Medicine, Rikshospitalet University Hospital, N-0027 Oslo, Norway (e-mail: birgitte.boye@rikshospitalet.no) Copyright © 2008 Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America, Inc. DOI 10.1002/ibd.20367 Published online 22 January 2008 in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience. wiley.com). 680 Inflamm Bowel Dis ● Volume 14, Number 5, May 2008