Introduction Differing perceptions between pts and physicians on the experience of living with and managing UC have been reported; the perspective of nurse specialists treating UC has not been fully explored. An international online survey of pts with UC and healthcare professionals (HCPs) treating UC was conducted in 6 countries to explore these differences; results from the UK are reported.

Methods Structured, cross-sectional, Web-based questionnaires assessing multiple aspects of UC and its management were administered to pts with UC, and nurses and physicians treating pts with UC. Participants were identified via access panels or “phone-to-Web” recruitment. Statistical comparisons among the 3 groups were not conducted.

Results In the UK, 150 pts, 50 nurses and 100 physicians completed the survey. Overall, the majority of pts (55%) described their UC severity as moderate. In contrast, HCPs estimated that their UC caseloads were primarily composed of mild compared with moderate pts (nurses: 49% vs 37%; physicians: 52% vs 35%). Pts reported experiencing a mean of 6.5 flares/year, but only discussed 3.4 flares with their HCP. Nurses and physicians, respectively, estimated that UC pts experienced a mean of 3.8 and 2.6 flares/year. Pts listed stress (41%) and natural disease course (35%) as the most common causes of flare. Both nurses and physicians, respectively, listed natural disease course (44% and 59%) followed by not taking preventive therapy (32% and 29%) as the most common flare causes. Most pts (58%) defined remission as “living with some symptoms”. A similar proportion of nurses (62%) and physicians (53%) defined remission as the “complete absence of symptoms”. Pts ranked urgency (43%) and pain (23%) as the most bothersome UC symptoms; while urgency was also rated most bothersome by a majority of nurses (58%) and physicians (51%), pain was rated most bothersome by the fewest nurses (6%) and physicians (1%). A total of 48% of pts reported that UC symptoms disrupted their quality of life (QoL); nurses and physicians estimated that 37% and 35% of pts, respectively, had their QoL disrupted by UC symptoms.

Conclusion In the UK, nurses’ perception of UC was more aligned with physicians’ rather than pts’ perceptions. Both nurses and physicians may underestimate the burden of UC perceived by pts.

Disclosure of Interest S. Bloom Consultant for: MSD, Abbott, Shire, Warner Chillcott, Employee of: UCL Hospitals NHS foundation trust, S. Schreiber Grant/Research Support from: Shire Development LLC, Speaker bureau with: Shire Development LLC, J. Panés Grant/Research Support from: Shire Development LLC, Consultant for: Abbott, BMS, MSD, Pfizer, Tygenix, Speaker bureau with: Shire Development LLC, Abbott, MSD, E. Louis Grant/Research Support from: Shire Development LLC, MSD, Schering Plough, Astra Zeneca, Abbott, Consultant for: Schering Plough, Abbott, MSD, Ferring, Shire Development LLC, Millenium, UCB, Speaker bureau with: Abbott, Astra Zeneca, Ferring, MSD, Schering Plough, Falk, Menarini, Chiesi, Nycomed, D. Holley Grant/Research Support from: Shire Development LLC, Employee of: GfK HealthCare, contracted by Shire to perform this research