Abstract
The prognosis of a disease depends on individual social and medical factors. Prognosis for a group of patients on a well-defined treatment regimen will provide useful information only if patient material is suitable. In such studies normal survival of patients with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease has been reported. The price for good survival seems to be early surgical treatment in medical treatment failures. The quality of life (family relations, marriage, social activities and employment) did not differ significantly from a control group.