Ballou S, Bedell A, Keefer L. Psychosocial impact of irritable bowel syndrome: A brief review. World J Gastrointest Pathophysiol 2015; 6(4): 120-123 [PMID: 26600969 DOI: 10.4291/wjgp.v6.i4.120]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Sarah Ballou, MD, Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, 676 N Saint Clair, Suite 1400, Chicago, IL 60611, United States. sarahballou2015@u.northwestern.edu
Research Domain of This Article
Behavioral Sciences
Article-Type of This Article
Topic Highlight
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastrointest Pathophysiol. Nov 15, 2015; 6(4): 120-123 Published online Nov 15, 2015. doi: 10.4291/wjgp.v6.i4.120
Psychosocial impact of irritable bowel syndrome: A brief review
Sarah Ballou, Alyse Bedell, Laurie Keefer
Sarah Ballou, Alyse Bedell, Laurie Keefer, Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
Author contributions: Ballou S, Bedell A and Keefer L wrote the paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There are no conflicts of interest to be declared.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Sarah Ballou, MD, Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, 676 N Saint Clair, Suite 1400, Chicago, IL 60611, United States. sarahballou2015@u.northwestern.edu
Telephone: +1-312-6959317 Fax: +1-312-6957095
Received: April 28, 2015 Peer-review started: May 5, 2015 First decision: May 18, 2015 Revised: June 11, 2015 Accepted: August 25, 2015 Article in press: August 28, 2015 Published online: November 15, 2015
Abstract
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common disorder of the gastrointestinal tract with unclear etiology and no reliable biomarker. Like other chronic and functional disorders, medical treatments for IBS are suboptimal and the overall illness burden is high. Patients with IBS report high rates of psychopathology, low quality of life, and increased suicidal ideation. These patients also miss more days of work, are less productive at work, and use many healthcare resources. However, little is known about the burden of IBS on daily functioning. The primary aim of this paper is to review the current literature on the burden of IBS and to highlight the need for further research to evaluate the impact of IBS on daily activities. This research would contribute to our existing understanding of the impact of IBS on overall quality of life and well-being.
Core tip: Little is known about the burden of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) on daily functioning. The primary aim of this paper is to review the current literature on the overall burden of IBS.
