Measuring health-related quality of life in patients with irritable bowel syndrome: can less be more?
OBJECTIVE: This study assessed the ability of a brief, well-validated generic health-related quality of life (HRQOL) measure to characterize the symptom burden of patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) with reference to a large survey of U.S. community-living adults. METHODS: One hundred four Rome II diagnosed patients with IBS completed measures of pain, psychological dysfunction (neuroticism, somatization, distress, abuse), and HRQOL (SF-36, IBS-QOL, CDC HRQOL-4) during baseline assessment of a National Institutes of Health-funded clinical trial. The four-item CDC HRQOL-4 assesses global health and the number of days in the past 30 days resulting from poor physical health, poor mental health, and activity limitation. RESULTS: Patients with IBS averaged 15 of 30 days with poor physical or mental health. These average overall unhealthy days exceeded those of respondents with arthritis, diabetes, heart disease/stroke, cancer, and class III obesity (body mass index > or =40 kg/m2)
Related Questions
- Does ambulatory process of care predict health-related quality of life outcomes for patients with chronic disease?
- Measuring health-related quality of life in patients with irritable bowel syndrome: can less be more?
- Does cancer risk affect health-related quality of life in patients with Barretts esophagus?
