{"doi":"10.1159/000536659","title":"Evaluation of a Multimodal Stress Management and Comprehensive Lifestyle Modification Program on Quality of Life and Gastrointestinal Symptoms in Patients with Crohn’s Disease: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial with 9-Month Follow-Up","abstract":"<jats:p>&lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Introduction:&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt; Stress and lifestyle factors impact the course of Crohn’s disease (CD). Our primary objective was to assess whether patients with CD benefit from a mind-body-medicine stress management and lifestyle modification (MBM) program. &lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Methods:&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt; This 9-month two-arm pilot trial was conducted in Bamberg, Germany (2020–2021). Patients (18–75 years) with mild to moderate activity of CD and stable medication were enrolled and randomly assigned to either a 10-week MBM program (intervention group, IG) or a single 90-min education session (waiting list control group, CG). Primary endpoints were quality of life (IBDQ) and disease activity (HBI). Secondary endpoints were emotional distress, core self-evaluation, and inflammatory biomarkers 3 and 9 months after baseline assessment. &lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Results:&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt; We analyzed data from 37 patients (IG: &lt;i&gt;n&lt;/i&gt; = 19, mean ± SD age 49.6 ± 13.1 years, 68% female; CG: 18, 46.8 ± 11.4, 67% female). Immediately after the intervention, 79% (IG) and 44% (CG) experienced a clinically relevant improvement (IBDQ score ≥16 points). This was similar after 9 months (63% vs. 44%). There was no difference in disease activity (3 months: &lt;i&gt;p&lt;/i&gt; = 0.082, 95% CI −1.3 to 2.6; 9 months: &lt;i&gt;p&lt;/i&gt; = 0.251, 95% CI −1.2 to 2.5). Secondary outcomes indicated improvements in emotional distress, core self-evaluation, erythrocyte sedimentation rate after three and in emotional distress, T-cell profiling in the blood, and fecal lactoferrin and calprotectin group after 9 months in the IG. &lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Conclusion:&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt; Our study suggested benefits of a multimodal stress management and lifestyle modification program for patients with CD. Larger trials are needed to determine if the program can supplement or at least partially replace pharmacological treatment approaches. </jats:p>","journal":"Digestion","year":2024,"id":609161,"datarank":0.40620753016533157,"base_score":2.70805020110221,"endowment":2.70805020110221,"self_citation_contribution":0.40620753016533157,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.40620753016533157,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":14,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":null,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":false,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":null,"fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":1565566,"name":"Claudia Löffler","orcid":null,"position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1565567,"name":"Oezlem Oeznur","orcid":null,"position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1565568,"name":"Christine Uecker","orcid":null,"position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1565569,"name":"Christoph Schlee","orcid":null,"position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1565570,"name":"Alexandra Adamczyk","orcid":null,"position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":625706,"name":"Sigrid Elsenbruch","orcid":"0000-0002-6528-2665","position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1565571,"name":"Katrin Pfuhlmann","orcid":null,"position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1565572,"name":"Ralf Reissmann","orcid":null,"position":8,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1565573,"name":"Astrid Westendorf","orcid":null,"position":9,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":281746,"name":"Thomas Keil","orcid":"0000-0002-9108-3360","position":10,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1201440,"name":"Jost Langhorst","orcid":"0000-0002-7900-181X","position":11,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":290321,"name":"Nina Bauer","orcid":null,"position":0,"is_corresponding":false}],"reference_count":0,"raw_metadata":{"citation_network_status":"fetched"},"created_at":"2026-07-31T03:59:59.047546Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}