Baseline characteristics of the patients
| Group | True diet (n = 75) | Sham diet (n = 75) |
|---|---|---|
| Results are expressed as mean (SD). | ||
| HAD, hospital anxiety and depression scale. | ||
| Age (y) (range, SD) | 44 (17–72; 12.9) | 44 (19–74; 15.2) |
| No of males (%) | 7 (9.3%) | 13 (17.3%) |
| No of foods to which sensitive | 6.65 (3.66) | 6.63 (4.1) |
| Symptom duration (y) | 11.5 (9.9) | 10.1 (7.5) |
| IBS symptom severity score | 331.9 (70.8) | 309.0 (78.5) |
| Non-colonic features score | 459.1 (160.7) | 452.6 (170.1) |
| Quality of life score | 640.1 (252.6) | 639.3 (222.3) |
| HAD anxiety score | 9.5 (4.6) | 9.5 (4.5) |
| HAD depression score | 5.3 (3.4) | 6.0 (3.6) |
| No of diarrhoea predominant patients (%) | 37 (52.1%) | 41 (56.9%) |
| No of constipation predominant patients (%) | 19 (26.8%) | 16 (22.2%) |
| No of alternating predominant patients (%) | 15 (21.1%) | 15 (20.8%) |