Quality of life in irritable bowel syndrome, effect of therapy

Background: irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common disease in the gener al population. Evaluation of IBS symptoms does not cover all the complaints of patients who report restrictions to social Life, the need to diet and p sychosocial repercussions. Quality of life (QOL) measurement permits a prec ise approach to patient status. Methods: The generic QOL questionnaires SF 36 and two validated specific QO L questionnaires-IBSQOL and Functional Digestive Disorders FDDQL-have been used for the evaluation of IBS patient outcome. IBSQOL measures 9 domains a nd its reliability and validity have been demonstrated. FDDQL measures 8 do mains. an international psychometric validation was obtained in French, Eng lish and German by comparison with the SF36. The discriminant validity and responsiveness of the FDDQL have been evaluated. Results: Generic QOL evaluation and specific questionnaires Like the FDDQL were able to measure changes in IBS patient status and QOL during several c linical trials. Conclusions: Specific QOL questionnaires have been validated in IBS patient s and are available for controlled studies. Development of effective new dr ugs are needed for IBS treatment, complete and precise evaluation of outcom e will involve QOL analysis in association with specific validated question naires.