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TOPLINE:

In a multicenter study of adult patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), nurse-patient mutuality — characterized by reciprocity, trust, empathy, and collaboration — was positively associated with self-care behaviors, including maintaining health and treatment adherence, monitoring symptoms, and responding to flare-ups.

METHODOLOGY:

• Effective IBD care requires more than medication: It depends on engaged patients and nurses who coordinate treatment, provide education, and support ongoing care. When nurses and patients build trusting, reciprocal, and collaborative relationships, communication and shared decision-making improve, but mutuality has been little studied in IBD.
• Researchers conducted a cross-sectional study at nine Italian IBD centers between April and June 2024 to assess the association between nurse-patient mutuality and self-care behaviors in adults with IBD.
• They analyzed data from 440 adults with IBD (mean age, 43.5 years; 52% male) including 223 patients with Crohn’s disease and 217 with ulcerative colitis (UC).
• Nurse-patient mutuality was measured with the 20-item Nurse-Patient Mutuality in Chronic Illness scale, which captures three dimensions: developing and going beyond (personal connection and mutual respect), being a point of reference (the nurse as a steady source of support), and deciding and sharing care (patient involvement in treatment decisions).
• Self-care was measured with the 18-item Self Care of Chronic Illness Inventory adapted for IBD, which assesses maintenance (daily health routines and treatment adherence), monitoring (watching for symptoms), and management (how patients respond to flare-ups) — showing how well patients care for their condition.

TAKEAWAY:

• The developing and going beyond dimension of mutuality was positively associated with self-care maintenance (adjusted regression coefficient [β], 0.23; P = .003) and with self-care monitoring (β, 0.18; P = .019).
• The deciding and sharing care dimension was positively associated with self-care monitoring (β, 0.15; P = .022) and self-care management (β, 0.28; P < .001).
• The being a point of reference dimension was positively associated with self-care management (β, 0.25; P = .001).
• Having Crohn’s disease was associated with higher self-care maintenance than having UC (P = .012).

IN PRACTICE:

“By evidencing a significant association between mutuality and all three components of self-care, our findings highlight the importance of relational processes in helping patients maintain daily health behaviors, remain attentive to symptom changes, and respond effectively to exacerbations,” the authors of the study wrote.

“These results underscore the potential value of incorporating mutuality‑informed approaches into IBD nursing practice to strengthen engagement and promote more adaptive disease management,” they concluded.

SOURCE:

The study was led by Daniele Napolitano, RN, CEMAD Digestive Disease Center, Fondazione Policlinico Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy. It was published online in Digestive Diseases and Sciences.

LIMITATIONS:

The study was limited by its cross-sectional design and use of a convenience sample drawn from a single national population, which may limit generalizability across other cultural and healthcare settings.

DISCLOSURES:

The study did not receive any specific funding. The authors declared having no competing interests.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.