Alimentary TractThe impact of irritable bowel syndrome on health-related quality of life☆,☆☆
Section snippets
Subjects
Subjects invited to participate in this study were ambulatory adults, aged 18 years or older, seen at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Functional Bowel Disease Clinic. Approximately one third were self-referred; the rest were referred by primary care providers or community gastroenterologists. Individuals who were unable to read and understand English or refused to provide written informed consent were excluded from the study. From September 1994 to June 1998, the SF-36 Health
Sample characteristics
The mean age of the 877 IBS patients was 45.6 years (SD, 13.4; range, 19–84 years) with 67.1% of the sample being women. Further information detailing the sample's race, marital status, education level, and annual income is provided in Table 2.Female sex, n (%) 588 (67.1) Age (yr), mean (SD) 45.6 (13.4) Race, n (%) White 707 (81.0) Black 66 (7.6) Hispanic 56 (6.4) Asian/Pacific Islander 25 (2.9) Native American 2 (0.2) Other 17 (2.0) Marital status, n (%) Never married 258 (30.0) Married
Discussion
There is increasing recognition that what matters to most patients with chronic illness is how well they are able to function and how they feel about their day-to-day lives. Therefore, it is essential to understand the impact of a chronic illness such as IBS on patient functioning and well-being. Using a generic HRQOL measure such as the SF-36 Health Survey provides a basis for comparing a sample of patients with other groups of patients with other chronic disease states or with general
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Address requests for reprints to: Ian M. Gralnek, M.D., M.S.H.S., VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, 11301 Wilshire Boulevard, CURE Building 115, Room 318, Los Angeles, California 90073. e-mail: [email protected]; fax: (310) 794-2908.
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Supported in part by Astra-Zeneca Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Gralnek is supported by a Veterans Administration Health Services Research and Development Research Career Development Award.