title: Rome foundation Asian working team report: Real world treatment experience of Asian patients with functional bowel disorders.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Information on real world treatment experiences of patients with functional bowel disorders is lacking from Asia. This study aimed to describe the medication exposure and treatment satisfaction of patients presenting to gastroenterology clinics across a sampling of Asian cities.
  
  
  METHODS
  From March 2011 to October 2013, adult patients presenting to hospital-based gastroenterology outpatient clinics in 11 cities across Asia, who fulfilled screening criteria for any functional gastrointestinal disorder, were asked to complete a validated culturally adapted translation of the Rome III diagnostic questionnaire, a checklist of medications received in the preceding 3 months and questions on treatment satisfaction.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 1376 patients (female 755, male 621, 41.36 ± 13.25 years) comprising irritable bowel (621, 45.1%), unspecified functional bowel disorder (372, 27.8%), functional constipation (202, 14.7%), functional bloating (144, 10.5%), and functional diarrhea (56, 4.1%) completed the study. Of 1105 patients with a previous consultation, 509 (46.1%) were dissatisfied with their treatment, with ineffective treatment being the commonest reason. Satisfaction with previous consultation was lowest by diagnosis for functional constipation (29.2%), and the most bothersome symptom was straining (37.5%). Of 1046 patients who had taken medications for their gastrointestinal symptoms in the last 3 months, 793 (75.8%) had received two or more drugs. For irritable bowel syndrome patients, treatment with proton pump inhibitors and antispasmodics was recorded in 57% and 31%, with overlapping epigastric pain and heartburn predicting proton pump inhibitors use.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  More attention should be given to treatment gaps with regards to possible under-treatment with antispasmodics in irritable bowel syndrome and to critically evaluating the efficacy of constipation management.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Lishou
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Xiaorong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University Medicine Cluster, National University Hospital, Singapore.
authors.forename: Kewin Tien-Ho
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Siah
authors.affiliation: Asian Institute of Gastroenterology, Hyderabad, India.
authors.forename: Nitesh
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pratap
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, India.
authors.forename: Uday Chand
authors.initials: UC
authors.lastname: Ghoshal
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology, Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia.
authors.forename: Murdani
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abdullah
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology, Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia.
authors.forename: Ari Fahrial
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Syam
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Young-Tae
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Bak
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Kangnam St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Myung-Gyu
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, National Yang-Ming University Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ching-Liang
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: GI Motility Research Unit, Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.
authors.forename: Sutep
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gonlachanvit
authors.affiliation: Gastro Centre Ipoh, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Andrew Seng Boon
authors.initials: ASB
authors.lastname: Chua
authors.affiliation: Klinic Chong, Slim River, Perak, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Kuck-Meng
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Chong
authors.affiliation: Section of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Medical Center Manila, Manila, Philippines.
authors.forename: Jane D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Ricaforte-Campos
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Quan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Union Hospital of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Techonology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Xiaohua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Center for Functional GI and Motility Disorders, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: William E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Whitehead
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Kok-Ann
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Gwee
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Minhu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001208:Asia / Q000453:epidemiology; D044466:Asian People; D003248:Constipation / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D043183:Irritable Bowel Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010276:Parasympatholytics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D054328:Proton Pump Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D010276:Parasympatholytics; D054328:Proton Pump Inhibitors
keywords: Asia; constipation; functional GI disorders; irritable bowel; treatment