The ubiquitous nature of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), coupled with
a lack of good treatment options, has created the impression that the
condition must represent a large drain on health-care resources. The l
iterature certainly appears to support this view but is largely based
on patients seen in referral centres (10-15%) and it may not be approp
riate to extrapolate these data to the IBS population as a whole (85-9
0%). In addition to reviewing such literature that exists on the econo
mics of IBS, this paper contains some new data, which suggest that the
direct costs of the condition, certainly in the UK, may not be quite
as high as has previously been assumed. This may be partly due to fact
ors such as the low cost of the drugs used to treat the condition and
the tendency for many patients to stop consulting because of disenchan
tment with the inadequacies of current therapy. Conversely, the indire
ct and intangible costs of the disorder appear to be much greater, but
these burdens obviously do not have such an impact on those responsib
le for purchasing and providing health care for IBS sufferers. Paradox
ically, if a new, effective therapy for IBS were forthcoming, the situ
ation could change dramatically, especially if it involved a new drug.
Any such agent would inevitably be more expensive than anything avail
able today, leading to a potentially dramatic escalation in the direct
costs of this disorder.