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Background: The predominant symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are diarrhoea, abdominal pain, gastrointestinal bleeding, weight loss, malnutrition and fatigue. These symptoms can have substantial psychosocial implications and cause sufferers to limit their lifestyles, with consequent impact on quality of life (QoL).

Aims: To survey the impact of IBD on peoples’ lives as well as opinions of treatment and patient–doctor communication in a large European cohort of patients.

Subjects and methods: Seven organisations affiliated with the European Federation of Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis Associations (EFCCA) distributed questionnaires to 12,200 members between May and August 2005. In total, 5636 responses were received and analysed using descriptive statistics.

Results: Of 5576 patients with evaluable responses, 1000 (17.9%) were not currently …