Objectives: This study was conducted to determine the frequency and severity of side effects (SEs) experienced during treatment with standard medications used to treat patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) with constipation (IBS-C).
Methods: In January of 2002, 668 subjects responded to a survey addressed to an online panel of 25,000 physician-diagnosed IBS sufferers. Of the survey respondents, 504 had constipation as a predominant bowel habit (median age 45 years, and 88% were women). Respondents answered questions about the therapies they used to relieve their IBS symptoms and about any SEs they experienced while taking these therapies; they were also asked to rate their satisfaction with their current/past medications. To gauge IBS impact, respondents were also asked about the number of times they either visited or called their health-care provider about their IBS symptoms and approximately how many days of work or school they missed because of their IBS symptoms.
Results: Subjects reported having tried an average of 3.9 +/- 3.3 medications for their IBS-C symptoms with virtually all subjects (99%) having tried at least 1 medication. Subjects reported an average of 3.3 +/- 2.7 SEs. Nearly three quarters reported discontinuing treatment because of SEs, and many sought medical help or missed work, school, or social activities because of SEs.
Conclusions: Traditional therapies for IBS-C, including laxatives, fiber, and stool softeners, are associated with SEs that negatively affect the lives of IBS sufferers.