Table 3

IBS related complaints and problems of female and male patients of primary care and outpatient populations

	Women			Men
Variable	Primary care (n=87)	Outpatient (n=56)	p Value	Primary care (n=22)	Outpatient (n=30)	p Value
Duration of complaints (1–9)	6.0 (5.0–9.0)	5.5 (4.0–8.0)	0.30	8.0 (2.75–9.0)	6.0 (3.0–9.0)	0.38
Intensity of abdominal pain (1–5)	2.0 (2.0–3.0)	3.0 (2.0–3.0)	0.001	2.0 (1.75–2.25)	2.0 (2.0–3.0)	0.76
Frequency of complaints (1–6)	5.0 (3.0–6.0)	6.0 (5.0–6.0)	0.001	5.0 (5.0–6.0)	6.0 (5.0–6.0)	0.03
Limitation of daily activities (1–4)	2.0 (2.0–2.0)	3.0 (2.0–3.0)	0.000	2.0 (1.75–2.0)	2.0 (2.0–3.0)	0.12
Avoidance of social or physical activities (1–4)	1.0 (1.0–2.0)	2.0 (2.0–3.0)	0.000	1.0 (1.0–2.0)	2.0 (1.0–2.0)	0.61
Severity score (0–9)	3.0 (2.0–4.0)	5.0 (4.0–7.0)	0.000	4.0 (3.0–5.0)	4.5 (3.0–6.0)	0.09
Number of additional complaints (1–9)	4.0 (3.0–6.0)	6.0 (4.0–7.0)	0.000	4.0 (3.0–6.5)	5.0 (4.0–7.0)	0.74
Number of visits for abdominal complaints to GP during previous 3 months	1.0 (1.0–2.0)	2.0 (1.0–3.0)	0.03	1.0 (1.0–2.0)	2.0 (1.0–3.25)	0.03
Absenteeism (number of days in previous 3 months) due to abdominal complaints	0.0 (0.0–2.0)	0.0 (0.0–1.7)	0.92	0.0 (0.0–4.0)	0.0 (0.0–5.0)	0.35