Impact of irritable bowel syndrome on quality of life and resource use in the United States and United Kingdom

Background: Although irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is not a life-threateni ng condition, it can have a serious impact on a patient's daily activities and quality of life. This effect on quality of life has not been compared p reviously across different cultures. Methods: We compared measures of healt h-related quality of life and health care resource utilization using a cros s-sectional point-in-time postal survey of a random sample of 500 members o f the International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders in the US a nd 500 members of the IBS Network support group in the UK. The an alysis was limited to persons who reported that a physician had told them t hey had IBS. A general health status questionnaire, the SF-36, and a diseas e-specific questionnaire, the Irritable Bowel Syndrome Quality of Life ques tionnaire (IBSQOL), were self-administered as part of the survey to measure health-related quality of life. Results on the SF-36 were compared with pu blished normative data for adults in the US and UK with and without chronic diseases. Results: The UK group (n = 343) reported significantly poorer qu ality of life on the SF-36 and on four parameters of the IBSQOL than did th e US group (n = 287). The general health status of persons with IBS in eith er country was much poorer compared with that of general populations in the respective countries. Health care resource utilization (i.e. emergency roo m, doctor and hospital outpatient visits) of persons with IBS was similar i n the two countries, as was the direct effect of IBS on employment. Nearly one third of those surveyed missed at least 1 day of work due to IBS in the previous 4 weeks, and a greater percentage cut back in their work or activ ites due to IBS. Taken together, average time lost or cut back amounted to nearly 5 days or 1 work-week. Conclusion: IBS has ii significant impact on quality of life and resource use in both the US and UK. The effect on quali ty of life, however, appears to be greater in the UK than in the US.