Understanding ulcerative colitis: Insights from locus of control, expressed emotion, and quality of life

Abstract

Patients suffering from ulcerative colitis (UC) experience periods of remission and relapse that could affect their mental health. The study aimed to use logistic regression analysis in a novel way by incorporating locus of control (LOC), expressed emotion (EE), and quality of life (QOL) as predictors of UC. This study involved 100 individuals with UC and 100 healthy controls, focusing on LOC groups (internal, chance, powerful others), EE, and QOL. This model also helped to better understand how these psychological variables interact to predict the likelihood of a UC diagnosis. The results revealed all significant predictors. EE corelates positively with UC probability (Estimate: 0.191, p < 0.001), whereas QOL corelates inversely (Estimate: −0.150, p < 0.001). The model had a classification accuracy of 82.5%. While trends in LOC groups warrant further exploration, the model contributes to understanding psychological risk factors in UC. This research suggests the potential use of these factors as predictive markers. It adds to the existing literature on how psychological factors influence health results, offering practical implications for clinical care and guiding future investigations to improve the management and comprehension of UC.

Keywords

Expressed emotions / Locus of control / Psychological variables / Quality of life / Regression analysis / Ulcerative colitis

Funding

None.

Conflict of interest

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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