Catatan

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common chronic
gastrointestinal disorder with a prevalence of 5–20% and
a reported incidence of 200 cases per 100,000 in the adult

population [1–9]. IBS patients are often young and pre-
dominantly female, and IBS is associated with abnormal

gastrointestinal motility and visceral hypersensitivity
[2,6,10–25]. Patients with IBS complain of abdominal
pain or discomfort, altered bowel habits, and bloating

and/or abdominal distension [1]. The severity of symp-
toms varies from tolerable to severe, with some patients

suffering from daily symptoms while others report inter-
mittent symptoms at intervals of weeks or months [1].

Although IBS is not known to be associated with the
development of serious disease or increased mortality, it
does considerably reduce the patients quality of life by
an amount comparable to that reported for patients with
inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes, congestive heart
failure, renal insufficiency, and hepatic cirrhosis [1,6,26–

31]. In addition to the morbidity caused by IBS, this dis-
order represents an economic burden to society [1].

Although most IBS patients ignore their symptoms and

regard them as a normal part of everyday life, they gen-
erate a substantial workload in both primary and sec-
ondary health care [32,33]. It has been reported that IBS

patients are responsible for 12–14% of primary health-
care visits and constitute 28% of referrals to gastroenter-
ologists [34–43]. Added to this are the costs associated

with diagnostic tests, medication, hospitalization, and
the reduced productivity of IBS patients [36,41,42].