It is recommended that patients with inflammatory bowel disease, or IBD, get an influenza, or "flu" vaccine every year. The flu vaccine is especially important for patients taking medication to suppress their immune system. This study showed that 1 in 3 IBD patients did not get a flu vaccine in 2011. Receiving an email reminder from the CCFA Partners program did not make patients more likely to get a flu vaccine.

As of August 2012, nearly 12000 patients have enrolled in CCFA Partners, and about half completed at least one follow-up study, which are released every 6 months. The CCFA Partners project currently includes 9 additional studies from external investigators. Two validation studies and a DNA collection pilot project are also underway.

This manuscript describes the creation of CCFA Partners and the first 7,819 participants. Of the people who took the first surveys, 72% were women, the median age was 42 years, 63% had Crohn's disease, 34% had ulcerative colitis and 3% had other IBD. CCFA Partners is a unique resource to study patient outcomes and satisfaction, quality of care and changes in disease management over time.

Patients with inflammatory bowel disease, or IBD, may be more likely to develop weak bones, infections like influenza and tuberculosis and certain cancers of the skin, cervix and colon, depending on the type of medications they use. Fortunately, there are simple activities that can prevent these from occurring. In a survey of over 7000 patients with IBD, only about half had a bone density scan or took calcium or vitamin D supplements to promote bone health. Only 40% reported having a skin exam and 16% reported always wearing sunscreen to prevent skin cancer. Less than two thirds had an influenza (flu) vaccine. These results show that not enough patients are doing simple activities to prevent weak bones, infections and cancers that may be related to IBD.

In a survey of over 7000 patients with inflammatory bowel disease, or IBD, more than half of all patients got a low score on medication adherence questions, which means that most patients are not taking their IBD medications correctly all of the time. In general, people felt better when they had a high medication adherence score. The researchers recommend educating patients to improve medication adherence.