On Thursday 26 June at 14:00, Helene Rask Dalby defends her PhD dissertation entitled "Surgery and quality of life in diverticular disease".

Colonic diverticulosis is common, and though asymptomatic in most, some develop chronically disabling symptoms. Management is challenging due to the broad spectrum of symptoms, and current guidelines are nonspecific and often rely on low-quality evidence.

So, what is the burden of diverticulosis in the Danish population?

Based on national patient registry data, we investigated how many patients in Denmark have undergone surgery for chronic diverticular disease over a 25-year period, from 1996 to 2021. Additionally, we explored the 90-day reoperation rate and mortality following elective surgery and identified which patients were at the highest risk of reoperation or dying within 90 days of their operation. In the final part of the project, we examined more broadly how diverticulosis affects quality of life. We sent a questionnaire to everyone in the Central Denmark Region who had been diagnosed with diverticulosis between 2010 and 2022. With a 74% response rate, we established the DIVIPACT cohort, comprising 20,961 people with diverticulosis who answered a detailed survey.

In conclusion, the project provides important and previously lacking knowledge about how chronic diverticular disease has been managed surgically in Denmark over the past 25 years. By gaining a better understanding of how diverticulosis affects people’s quality of life, the project can help lay the foundation for improved treatment guidelines that reflect the issues most important to patients.

The summary is written by the PhD student.

The defence is public and takes place in the Auditorium, Regional Hospital Randers. Please see the press release for more information. 

Contact

PhD student Helene Rask Dalby
Mail: helecl@rm.dk
Phone: (+45) 26353245

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