Background

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease of unknown etiology. The disease occurs early in life and the burden of symptoms is the main problem. Patients need to perform self-care to handle their symptoms but knowledge about what kind of self-care patients do is limited and these typically young individuals need to learn how to manage the symptoms that arise.

Methods

Twenty adult patients with IBD, 26-66 years of age were interviewed. A qualitative content analysis was performed.

Results

Four categories with ten sub-categories emerged from the analyses of the interviews. The self-care patients perform consist of symptom recognition (subcategories: physiological sensations and psychological sensations), handling of symptoms (subcategories: adapting the diet, using medical treatment, stress management and using complementary or alternative medicine), planning life (subcategories: planning for when to do activities and when to refrain from activities) and seeking new options (subcategories: seeking knowledge and personal contacts).

Conclusions

Patients with IBD manage their lives through a broad range of self-care activities. Self-care consists of recognition, handling, planning and seeking new options to increase personal well-being. Being one step ahead facilitates the ability to live a full life. Key words: content analysis, crohns disease, inflammatory bowel disease, self-care, ulcerative colitis.