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Conclusion
This report provides a snapshot of the physical, quality of life, and economic impact irritable
bowel syndrome (IBS) has on women. It portrays these aspects through the eyes of IBS
patients suffering with symptoms and through the physicians struggling to diagnose and
to treat the disorder. Market research survey results revealed that once symptoms emerge, it
may take more than 2 years before an IBS diagnosis is made. However, the assurance of a
definitive diagnosis does not guarantee relief of symptoms because of the limited effectiveness
and adverse effects of prescription and over-the-counter therapies used to treat IBS. The
inadequacies of approaches mean that patients often try multiple medications and/or seek care
from multiple health care providers.
This report is intended to help raise awareness about how patients think, feel, and live with
IBS and to provide insights into physicians’ beliefs and attitudes regarding this disorder.
Understanding these elements should help put into perspective the vast amount of published
literature discussing the causes of IBS, options for management, and recommendations for
treatment. Clearly, additional research is needed to help further address the many clinical
gaps that remain.
This report focuses on women because of the higher prevalence of IBS in women compared
with men5,10,11 and because differences in physiology, symptoms, psychosocial factors, and
treatment response between the sexes may shape the definition and treatment of IBS in
women.24 Research initiatives exploring currently untapped areas in women’s health (eg, the
influence of reproductive hormones on the physiology and symptoms of IBS, and the
influence of inflammation and enteric infections on sensitization of the female gut)3 are
essential to advancing our understanding of this disorder.
Fortunately, important strides have been made in defining IBS as a medical disorder with
a physiologic cause. The limitations of conventional medications underscore the need for
treatment options that effectively target the underlying causes of IBS (altered intestinal
movement, increased pain perception, and altered movement of fluids through the
digestive tract) to help patients manage the multiple symptoms associated with each IBS
subtype. It is hoped that using published consensus recommendations for making a positive
IBS diagnosis and using an evidence-based approach to manage IBS will make
diagnosing and treating the disorder a simpler and quicker process. Critical is an aggressive
and comprehensive professional and patient education effort that stresses the importance of a
strong patient-physician relationship and reinforces the utility of a symptom-based approach.
Large perception gaps continue to exist. For example, physicians often perceive IBS with
constipation as less severe than IBS with diarrhea. Survey results have shown that IBS with
constipation is equally prevalent and bothersome as is IBS with diarrhea, which stresses the
importance of educational initiatives geared at raising awareness about IBS with constipation.
This report serves as a good starting point toward a greater understanding of the unmet
needs associated with women with IBS.
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