Identification and Management of Comorbidities and Extra-intestinal Manifestations in Crohn's Disease: the NEMO Nurse-led Program
Identification and Management of Comorbidities and Extra-intestinal Manifestations in Crohn's Disease: the NEMO Nurse-led Program
Crohn's disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Although inflammation is predominantly expressed in the GI tract, extra-intestinal manifestations (EIMs) are so frequent that the concept of systemic disease is now widely accepted. Moreover, similar to other chronic diseases, patients with CD can be affected by other unrelated diseases which are called comorbidities.
Although no specific guidelines on comorbidity and EIMs in CD are available, data from other immune-mediated diseases support the use of nurse-led programs to improve the cost-effectiveness for the management of cardiovascular risk factors, increase rates of pneumococcal vaccination in high-risk patients, provide preventive measures against osteoporosis and increased fracture risk in older women.
The investigators believe that such an initiative can be conducted for CD patients by developing a CD-specific nurse-led program. Moreover, it has been shown that CD patients highly appreciate the "communicator role" and "skilled companionship" performed by nurses to fulfill their needs for attention to the "complete picture".
Therefore, the investigators hypothesize that a nurse-led program would increase the number of measures taken to treat or identify EIMs and/or comorbidities in CD patients and thus revolutionize their management.
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