Post Hoc Analysis of Anxiety and Behavioral Changes in Japanese Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease due to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Relationship Between Municipal Population at the Place of Residence and Anxiety

Aims: The Japan COVID-19 Survey and the Questionnaire for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (J-DESIRE) identified multiple factors associated with anxiety regarding the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, no regional differences in anxiety were observed. In this post hoc analysis of J-DESIRE, we investigated the relationship between the municipal population size at the place of residence (MPSPR) and anxiety among patients with IBD in Japan during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods and Results: We analyzed 2958 questionnaires collected from patients with IBD aged ≥ 16 years between March 2020 and June 2021. The primary endpoint was the association between the visual analogue scale (VAS) scores of anxiety and MPSPR during the COVID-19 pandemic. The mean VAS score for anxiety was higher than the overall mean VAS score in municipalities with large and small populations, while it was lower in municipalities with medium populations. Therefore, we categorized the population into three groups based on MPSPR: ≤ 150 000, 150 001–1 000 000, and ≥ 1 000 001. The three groups had different background factors, contents of anxiety, and sources of information regarding therapeutic drugs. These differences may have led to differences in the degree and content of anxiety. Conclusions: We investigated the association between anxiety in Japanese patients with IBD and MPSPR nationwide during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan. The results obtained in this analysis are useful not only in special situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic but also for considering regional differences in medical care.