Quality of life in irritable bowel syndrome: measurement techniques and relevance of current knowledge

Irritable bowel syndrome is characterized by abdominal pain and/or discomfort related to an abnormal bowel habit. Irritable bowel syndrome is very common in society and treatment alternatives are scarce. This disorder may be viewed as a benign disorder from a strictly medical point of view, but in many patients there is a chronic, relapsing course, which severely affects the activities of daily living. In recent years, interest in quality of life in irritable bowel syndrome has increased dramatically, both regarding comparisons with the normal population and other disorders and detecting changes due to different treatment regimes. This review presents the concept of quality of life and instruments used to assess quality of life in irritable bowel syndrome. It also reviews the current knowledge of quality of life in irritable bowel syndrome, based on existing studies.