Diverticulitis is a common gastrointestinal condition in both the United States and Europe. Approximately 200,000 people are hospitalized for cases of diverticulitis in the United States alone on a yearly basis. When small pouches called diverticula develop along the sigmoid colon, the lower part of the colon, this initial condition is known as diverticulosis. Diverticulosis turns into diverticulitis when these diverticula, located in the left lower quadrant (LLQ) of the abdomen, become inflamed usually due to a bacterial infection. A common symptom of diverticulitis is when patients generally have LLQ pain sustained over a period of time. We, the Surgical Outcomes Research Center (SORCE), are conducting the Diverticulitis Evaluation of Patient Burden, Utilization, and Trajectory (DEBUT) study to investigate the impact of diverticulitis treatment options on patients and to improve the understanding about how physicians and patients decide to have elective surgery for diverticulitis. Currently, the optimal timing for elective (non-emergency) colectomy surgery to treat diverticulitis is unclear, and diverticulitis affects individuals in many different ways. Through our patient-centered research approach in DEBUT, we hope to determine the impact of treatment decisions on a patient's quality of life, work, and clinical symptoms. These patient-reported outcomes are measured over time among patients who do and do not undergo elective colectomy surgery to treat diverticulitis. Our goals are to better understand how physicians and patients decide to undergo elective colectomy surgery to treat diverticulitis as well as provide higher quality evidence that can help patients and their physicians to make better-informed decisions about the timing of surgery for diverticulitis. Results gained from this study may eventually help inform current medical recommendations for diverticulitis treatment and give current healthcare professionals the tools necessary to develop more effective guidelines for treating patients with diverticulitis.