[Evaluation of the quality of life of patients with irritable bowel syndrome].
OBJECTIVE
To explore and assess the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) patients in the population.


METHODS
Random clustered sampling involving permanent inhabitants aged 18 - 80 yr was carried out under stratification of urban and suburban areas in Guangdong Province. Altogether 231 IBS patients fulfilling the Rome II criteria and 636 Non-IBS as control were collected. The impact of IBS on HRQOL was evaluated using the Chinese version of SF-36.


RESULTS
(1) There were no statistically significant differences between IBS and Non-IBS groups in aspects of sex, age educational level, and distribution according to areas (P > 0.05). (2) IBS patients reported significantly poorer HRQOL than controls (Non-IBS) on all SF-36 subscales (P < 0.05). The patients had poorer HRQOL than the Non-patients, but their differences weren't significant (P > 0.05). (3) The scores on all SF-36 subscales were highly associated with the frequency of abdominal pain in IBS patients (P < 0.05); They were also correlated to degree of effects of IBS symptoms on life reported by IBS patients (P < 0.05); The association between the scores and the symptom of fatigue which is the most extra-intestinal symptom in IBS was significant (P < 0.05); (4) Copying style was highly correlated to the eight SF-36 subscales; IBS still had a significant impact on patients after partialing out the effect of copying style.


CONCLUSIONS
IBS symptoms had a negative impact on HRQOL and the SF-36 could be adopted to detect the differences between IBS group and Non-IBS group, which may be used as an outcome measure in future treatment studies. However, the development of IBS-specific measures of quality of life is necessary.
Xiong
Li-shou
LS
Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China.
Chen
Min-hu
MH
Wang
Wei-an
WA
Chen
Hui-xin
HX
Xu
An-gao
AG
Hu
Pin-jin
PJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D043183:Irritable Bowel Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires