However, many people report continuing IBD-related fatigue (41%), abdominal pain (62%) and difficulty with continence (up to 75%) even when IBD is in remission.

Most previous IBD research has focused on controlling inflammation. There is no current cure for IBD, which usually starts in childhood or as a young adult. In remission, many people with IBD live with fatigue, chronic abdominal pain and bowel urgency/incontinence. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) causes unpredictable bouts of gut inflammation, with acute illness, diarrhoea, and pain. This is the first trial, to our knowledge, focused on multiple symptoms prioritised by both people with IBD and health professionals. If it is shown to improve patients’ quality of life, this trial will enable clinicians and patients to make informed management decisions. The BOOST online self-management programme for people with IBD-related symptoms of fatigue, pain and urgency has been designed to be easily scalable and implemented. The UK-IBDQ and global rating of symptom relief at 6 and 12 months post randomisation will be compared between the study groups. Demographic characteristics and outcome measures will be presented for both study groups at baseline. We will randomise 680 patients, 340 in each group. The RCT has an embedded pilot study, health economics evaluation and process evaluation. The UK Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire and global rating of symptom relief at 6 months are the co-primary outcomes, with multiple secondary outcomes measured also at 6 and 12 months post randomisation to assess maintenance.

Patients will be recruited through a previous large-scale survey of unselected people with inflammatory bowel disease. In people with IBD who report symptoms of fatigue, pain or urgency and express a desire for intervention, does a facilitator-supported tailored (to patient needs) online self-management programme for fatigue, pain and faecal urgency/incontinence improve IBD-related quality of life (measured using the UK-IBDQ) and global rating of symptom relief (0–10 scale) compared with care as usual? MethodsĪ pragmatic two-arm, parallel group randomised controlled trial (RCT), of a 12-session facilitator-supported online cognitive behavioural self-management programme versus care as usual to manage symptoms of fatigue, pain and faecal urgency/incontinence in IBD.

We aim to test the effectiveness of an online self-management programme (BOOST), developed using cognitive behavioural principles and a theoretically informed logic model, and delivered with facilitator support. Despite being in clinical remission, many people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) live with fatigue, chronic abdominal pain and bowel urgency or incontinence that limit their quality of life.

Ibd home study program