IBD-Specific Cognitive Behavioral Teletherapy Protocol Reduces IBD-Related Disability

MONDAY, June 15, 2026 (HealthDay News) — An eight-week telehealth-delivered inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)-specific cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) protocol reduces IBD-related disability, according to a study published in the June issue of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

Chung Sang Tse, M.D., from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and colleagues examined the effect of IBD-specific CBT delivered through telehealth on disability in an open-label, multicenter randomized controlled trial involving adults with moderate-to-severe IBD-related disability. Participants were randomly assigned to receive eight weeks of telehealth-delivered CBT or usual care.

Ninety patients were randomly assigned, and of these, 74 completed the trial and 69 adhered to the teletherapy protocol. The researchers found that disability was significantly reduced (β = 5.9) in the teletherapy group, and there were clinically relevant improvements (adjusted odds ratio, 2.9) compared with controls. No difference was seen between the groups in clinical disease activity and the cost of IBD (both direct and indirect).

“Additional investigations and applications of scalable, cost-effective psychological and behavioral interventions could accelerate and improve the implementation of psychological and behavioral nonpharmacological adjunctive therapies to reduce the impact of IBD on patients” lives,” the authors write.

Several authors disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.

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