A simple clinical colitis activity index

Background—The appropriate medicaltreatment of patients with ulcerative colitis is determined largely bythe severity of symptoms. Hospital assessment of the severity ofdisease activity includes investigation of laboratory indices andsigmoidoscopic assessment of mucosal inflammation.
Aims—To develop a simplifiedclinical colitis activity index to aid in the initial evaluation ofexacerbations of colitis.
Methods—The information fordevelopment of the simple index was initially evaluated in 63 assessments of disease activity in patients with ulcerative colitiswhere disease activity was evaluated using the Powell-Tuck Index (whichincludes symptoms, physical signs, and sigmoidoscopic appearance). Thenew index was then further evaluated in 113 assessments in a differentgroup of patients, by comparison with a complex index utilisingclinical and laboratory data, as well as five haematological andbiochemical markers of disease severity.
Results—The newly devised SimpleClinical Colitis Activity Index, consisting of scores for five clinicalcriteria, showed a highly significant correlation with the Powell-TuckIndex (r=0.959, p<0.0001) as well as thecomplex index (r=0.924, p<0.0001) and alllaboratory markers (p=0.0003 to p<0.0001).
Conclusions—This new Simple ColitisActivity Index shows good correlation with existing more complexscoring systems and therefore could be useful in the initial assessmentof patients with ulcerative colitis.

Keywords:ulcerative colitis; disease activity