Olafsdottir LB, Gudjonsson H, Jonsdottir HH, Jonsson JS, Bjornsson E, Thjodleifsson B. Irritable bowel syndrome: Physicians' awareness and patients' experience. World J Gastroenterol 2012; 18(28): 3715-3720 [PMID: 22851864 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v18.i28.3715]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Linda Bjork Olafsdottir, PhD, MSc Pharm, MBA, Department of Gastroenterology, Landspitali, Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Hringbraut, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland. linda04@ru.is
Article-Type of This Article
Brief Article
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 Gastroenterol. Jul 28, 2012; 18(28): 3715-3720 Published online Jul 28, 2012. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v18.i28.3715
Irritable bowel syndrome: Physicians' awareness and patients' experience
Linda Bjork Olafsdottir, Hallgrímur Gudjonsson, Heidur Hrund Jonsdottir, Jon Steinar Jonsson, Einar Bjornsson, Bjarni Thjodleifsson
Linda Bjork Olafsdottir, Hallgrímur Gudjonsson, Einar Bjornsson, Bjarni Thjodleifsson, Department of Gastroenterology, Landspitali, Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Hringbraut, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
Heidur Hrund Jonsdottir, The Social Science Research Institute, University of Iceland, Saemundargotu 2, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland
Jon Steinar Jonsson, Gardabaer Health Centre, Gardatorgi 7, 210 Gardabae, Iceland
Author contributions: Olafsdottir LB, Thjodleifsson B, Jonsson JS and Gudjosnsson H designed the research; Olafsdottir LB performed the research; Olafsdottir LB and Jonsdottir HH analyzed the data; and Olafsdottir LB, Bjornsson E, Jonsson JS and Thjodleifsson B wrote the paper.
Supported by In part by the Medical Research Fund of the National Hospital of Iceland; the Medical Research Fund of Wyeth, Iceland; Actavis, Iceland; AstraZeneca, Iceland; GlaxoSmithKline, Iceland; and the Icelandic College of Family Physicians
Correspondence to: Linda Bjork Olafsdottir, PhD, MSc Pharm, MBA, Department of Gastroenterology, Landspitali, Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Hringbraut, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland. linda04@ru.is
Telephone: +354-8966664 Fax: +354-5200801
Received: May 12, 2011 Revised: May 11, 2012 Accepted: June 8, 2012 Published online: July 28, 2012
Abstract
AIM: To study if and how physicians use the irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) diagnostic criteria and to assess treatment strategies in IBS patients.
METHODS: A questionnaire was sent to 191 physicians regarding IBS criteria, diagnostic methods and treatment. Furthermore, 94 patients who were diagnosed with IBS underwent telephone interview.
RESULTS: A total of 80/191 (41.9%) physicians responded to the survey. Overall, 13 patients were diagnosed monthly with IBS by specialists in gastroenterology (SGs) and 2.5 patients by general practitioners (GPs). All the SGs knew of the criteria to diagnose IBS, as did 46/70 (65.7%) GPs. Seventy-nine percent used the patient’s history, 38% used a physical examination, and 38% exclusion of other diseases to diagnose IBS. Only 18/80 (22.5%) physicians used specific IBS criteria. Of the patients interviewed, 59/94 (62.8%) knew they had experienced IBS. Two out of five patients knew IBS and had seen a physician because of IBS symptoms. Half of those received a diagnosis of IBS. A total of 13% were satisfied with treatment. IBS affected daily activities in 43% of cases.
CONCLUSION: Half of the patients with IBS who consulted a physician received a diagnosis. Awareness and knowledge of diagnostic criteria for IBS differ between SGs and GPs.
