LAXATIVE INDUCED DIARRHEA - A NEGLECTED DIAGNOSIS

A laxative screening service was established and offered to gastroente rologists in hospitals covering the West and Central belt of Scotland. The prevalence of laxative induced diarrhoea was assessed in two popu lations and was found to be 4% in new patients presenting to a gastroe nterology clinic with diarrhoea and 20% in patients already under inve stigation of chronic idiopathic diarrhoea. A high rate of missed diagn osis of laxative induced diarrhoea (71%) and a low request rate (eight per annum) confirm the low clinical awareness of this diagnosis. We f ound potential savings of 80% of the cost of investigations subsequent ly ordered which could have been avoided by performing laxative screen s on all patients presenting with diarrhoea. The introduction of such a screening policy is recommended as a cost-effective measure.