Background: The validity and reliability of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (IBDQ) needed to be confirmed before its use in the UK.

Methods: The IBDQ was administered to 28 subjects with ulcerative colitis (UC) on 3 separate occasions over a period of 4 weeks, twice by an interviewer and once by self-completion. Convergent and concurrent validity was assessed by using the Colitis Activity Index (CAI) and the Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36). Test-retest reliability and internal consistency were also tested.

Results: There were moderately high Pearson correlations between related IBDQ domains and SF-36 dimensions and also between the CAI score and the IBDQ Bowel domain and the SF-36 Pain dimension. Cronbach's alpha, corrected item-total correlations, and intra-class correlation coefficients were high.

Conclusions: The IBDQ is a valid and reliable health-related quality of life scale for use in patients with UC and is suitable for use in the UK.