Abstract
Although there are several symptomclassification systems for irritable bowel syndrome(IBS), for example, the Manning or Rome criteria, therehas been no previous research on how well theseclassifications correspond to each other or to personsdiagnosed with IBS. We examined data from the DigestiveDisorders Supplement of the 1989 National HealthInterview Survey (NHIS) to assess demographic,socioeconomic, and health status characteristics of two groupsof IBS sufferers — those who met the Manning orRome criteria and those who reported having IBS but didnot meet either criteria. The results showed that the overlap between estimates of IBS and personswith IBS-like symptoms depended on the definition ofIBS. There were socioeconomic differences between thetwo IBS groups and higher rates of functional orwork-related activity limitation and health care utilizationfor all IBS groups relative to US national averages. Insummary, these findings indicate that IBS affects alarge portion of the US population, regardless of the definition used to describe thecondition. Our results suggest that there is a largeundiagnosed population with numerous symptoms consistentwith IBS, but further research is required to determine the differences between people who do and donot seek care, their impact on the health care system,and future therapies to reduce symptomatology andsuffering.
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Hahn, B.A., Saunders, W.B. & Maier, W.C. Differences Between Individuals with Self-Reported Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and IBS-Like Symptoms. Dig Dis Sci 42, 2585–2590 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018889318063
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018889318063