In IBS, non-GI issues more powerful than symptoms in patients' health perceptions
Tuesday, March 18, 2014 - 12:31
in Health & Medicine
Social relationships, fatigue and other coexisting medical problems have a stronger effect on how patients with irritable bowel syndrome rate their overall health than the severity of their gastrointestinal symptoms, a study has found. "Self-reported health has been found to be a strong and robust predictor for mortality and morbidity even when controlled for the presence of disease symptoms," a researcher explains. "However, very few studies have looked at self-reported health in relation to gastrointestinal disease."