Remote Treatment Results and Prognosis of Patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Abstract

The relevance of studying functional disorders of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) and, in particular, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), is determined by the high prevalence of this disease, which in most countries of the world ranges from 9 to 48% of the entire population. IBS leads, on the one hand, to a significant decrease in the quality of life of patients, and, on the other hand, causes significant economic damage. A comparison of the quality of life of patients suffering from IBS, diabetes mellitus, acute myocardial infarction, arterial hypertension and depression showed that in patients with IBS the quality of life was comparable to that of people suffering from depression and was the lowest of all the groups examined. The deterioration of the quality of life of patients directly determines the economic damage. The total health care costs associated with IBS in the UK in 1995, according to the National Health Service, amounted to 45.6 million pounds sterling (this amount includes costs associated with consultations, prescription of medications, hospitalization and outpatient admission).