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Quality of life of patients with irritable bowel syndrome in Korea

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Abstract

Objective

The impact of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) on HRQOL has been widely studied in the West. However, there are few data from Asian countries. The aim of this study was to assess the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of patients suffering from IBS in Korea.

Methods

Consecutive patients from six secondary and six tertiary medical centers in Korea were enrolled and completed self-administered questionnaires on sociodemographics and IBS-associated symptoms. HRQOL was assessed using the generic Short Form 36 (SF-36) and the disease-specific IBS-QOL questionnaires.

Results

Of the 932 patients with abdominal pain and bowel symptoms, 664 IBS patients who fulfilled the Rome II criteria were analyzed. On all eight SF-36 scales, IBS patients had a significantly worse HRQOL than the general population (P < 0.01). The overall score for the IBS-QOL was 74.2. The health concern domain was most affected (mean score 64.2), and the sexual domain (mean score 86.7) was least affected in the IBS-QOL. Significant impairment of HRQOL was only observed in patients with severe symptoms both in the generic and specific HRQOL measurement, whereas patients with mild and moderate symptoms showed only mild impairment (P < 0.01). Female patients reported a significantly lower HRQOL than male patients (P < 0.05), but the difference was minimal. The IBS-QOL was significantly associated with female gender, total symptom score, self-reported symptom severity, and level of education in the multivariate analysis.

Conclusions

IBS-related symptoms had a great effect on the HRQOL of Korean patients. These results and the considerable prevalence of IBS in Korea indicate that IBS has a substantial social impact in this country.

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Abbreviations

IBS:

Irritable bowel syndrome

IBS-C:

Constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome

IBS-D:

Diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome

IBS-M:

Mixed type irritable bowel syndrome

QOL:

Quality of life

SF-36:

Short Form 36

IBS-QOL:

Irritable bowel syndrome-quality of life measure

GI:

Gastrointestinal

HRQOL:

Health-related quality of life

ANOVA:

Analysis of variance

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Acknowledgments

We thank Donald L. Patrick for kindly consenting to the use of the IBS-QOL in Korea.

Funding

This work was funded by grants from The Korean Society of Neurogastroenterology and Motility by Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Korea.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, # 505, Banpo-Dong, Seocho-Gu, Seoul, 137-701, Korea

    Jae Myung Park, Myung-Gyu Choi & Jeong Jo Jeong

  2. Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, Korea

    Hee Jung Son

  3. Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Korea

    Chang Hwan Choi

  4. Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Wonkwang University, Iksan, Korea

    Yong Sung Kim & Suck Chei Choi

  5. Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Konkuk University, Seoul, Korea

    In Kyung Sung

  6. Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea

    Dong Ho Lee

  7. Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Sooncheonhyang University, Seoul, Korea

    Su Jin Hong & Joon Seong Lee

  8. Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Ajou University, Suwon, Korea

    Kwang Jae Lee

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  1. Jae Myung Park
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Correspondence to Myung-Gyu Choi.

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Park, J.M., Choi, MG., Kim, Y.S. et al. Quality of life of patients with irritable bowel syndrome in Korea. Qual Life Res 18, 435–446 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-009-9461-7

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