title: How individuals with the irritable bowel syndrome describe their own symptoms before formal diagnosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate how individuals fulfilling the Rome II criteria for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) spontaneously described their symptoms.
  
  
  METHODS
  From a general population, 1,244 randomly sampled adults were asked to describe their gastrointestinal symptoms (if any) verbally, in their own words, at a semi-structured interview. Their own descriptions were sorted into five symptom clusters. The participants independently completed a written questionnaire (the Rome II Modular Questionnaire (RMIIMQ)).
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 601 participants reported at least one gastrointestinal symptom, and 128 had IBS according to the RMIIMQ. After exclusion of organic causes, previously diagnosed IBS, or additional gastrointestinal diagnosis, 81 participants with IBS according to RMIIMQ remained. Five participants (6%) described symptoms included in the full definition of IBS, but none fulfilled the Rome II criteria completely. Abdominal pain or other IBS-related symptoms were reported by 64 (79%), and 12 (15%) did not report any IBS-like symptom.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Previously undiagnosed individuals, who fulfil criteria for Rome II-IBS, often express their complaints in words that do not fit into the current diagnostic criteria.
authors.affiliation: a Division of Family Medicine , Karolinska Institutet , Huddinge , Sweden ;
authors.forename: Herdis
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Molinder
authors.affiliation: a Division of Family Medicine , Karolinska Institutet , Huddinge , Sweden ;
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Agréus
authors.affiliation: b Centre for Gastrointestinal Disease , Sabbatsberg Hospital , Stockholm , Sweden ;
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kjellström
authors.affiliation: c Institution of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology , Linköping University , Linköping , Sweden ;
authors.forename: Susanna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Walter
authors.affiliation: d Faculty of Health and Medicine , University of Newcastle , Newcastle , Australia ;
authors.forename: Nicholas J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Talley
authors.affiliation: a Division of Family Medicine , Karolinska Institutet , Huddinge , Sweden ;|e Stress Research Institute , Stockholm University , Stockholm , Sweden ;
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Andreasson
authors.affiliation: f Department of Medicine Huddinge , Karolinska Institutet , Huddinge , Sweden.
authors.forename: Henry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nyhlin
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D059026:Diagnostic Self Evaluation; D005260:Female; D005762:Gastroenterology / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D043183:Irritable Bowel Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Diagnosis; digestive symptoms; irritable bowel syndrome (IBS); layman’s wording; medical history-taking; questionnaires