Fear of GI symptoms has an important impact on quality of life in patients with moderate-to-severe IBS.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Because irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional medical condition for which there is no curative therapy, treatment goals emphasize relieving gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms and optimizing the quality of life (QOL). This study sought to characterize the magnitude of the associations between QOL impairment, fear of IBS symptoms, and confounding variables.

Methods

Subjects included 234 Rome III-diagnosed IBS patients (mean age, 41 years, 79%, female) without comorbid organic GI disease who were referred to two specialty care clinics of an National Institutes of Health trial for IBS. Subjects completed a testing battery that included the IBS-specific QOL (IBS-QOL), SF-12 (generic QOL), the UCLA GI Symptom Severity Scale, the Visceral Sensitivity Index, Trait An

SUBMITTER: Lackner JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5110208 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature