Shin A¹, Ballou S², Camilleri M³, Xu H⁴, Lembo A². Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2019 Sep 20. pii: S1542-3565(19)31026-2. doi: 10.1016/j.cgh.2019.09.020. [Epub ahead of print]

Author information

1 Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana. Electronic address: ashin@iu.edu.

2 Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts.

3 Clinical Enteric Neuroscience Translational and Epidemiological Research (C.E.N.T.E.R.), Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.

4 Department of Biostatistics, Indiana University Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health and School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana.

Abstract

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common and clinically heterogeneous gastrointestinal disorder that can be divided into 4 subtypes: IBS with constipation (IBS-C), IBS with diarrhea (IBS-D), IBS with mixed bowel habits, and unclassified IBS. IBS decreases quality of life¹ and imposes a substantial economic burden on the healthcare system.² To develop efficient approaches to address the individual needs of IBS patients while minimizing healthcare resource overutilization, it is important to identify the factors that drive patients to seek care, to clarify the burden associated with distinct IBS subtypes, and to be aware of the resources from which IBS patients seek health-related information. We aimed to compare healthcare and information seeking between individuals with IBS-C and IBS-D.