Discovering of the components of a lifestyle based educational package for patients with ulcerative colitis- A Phenomenological Study

Background & Aims: Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory chronic disease. The purpose of this study was to explore the components of the lifestyle in patients with ulcerative colitis in order to develop a particular educational package for them. Materials & Methods: The study was a phenomenological qualitative research with in-depth interviews. The participants were recruited (n=26) using purposeful sampling from the IBD outpatient clinic affiliated to Isfahan University of Medical Sciences and the private office. The sampling was done in such a way to encompass greatest variation in diagnosis and duration of UC, age, and sex. Results: A total of 26 UC patients (with mean±SD age of 39.41 ± 11.8, (57.6%) graduated from university, (84.4%) married, mean duration of disease=7.56y, and mean age of disease=31.29y) were included in the study. Using seven-step Colaizzi method, data was summarized in four main concepts and ninecomponents. Conclusions: With the discovery of nine main components in relation to lifestyle and their impact on UC disease, a lifestyle-based educational package can be developed for UC patients. Some of the discovered components in this study did not get enough attention in the previous studies.