Illness perception in irritable bowel syndrome

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Tracking the progression of illness perception in irritable bowel syndrome

• IRAS ID

  165206

• Contact name

  L Macrae

• Contact email

  fbmhethics@manchester.ac.uk

• Duration of Study in the UK

  1 years, 1 months, 1 days

• Research summary

  Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is one of the most common bowel problems seen by doctors. We do not understand the exact cause and therefore treatment is not very satisfactory. This leads to patients who are unhappy with their lack of progress, doctors who are frustrated and strain on the health care system. The patients’ symptoms often become more severe as time goes by and they frequently become very stressed especially as the doctors are unable to tell them exactly what is wrong. Consequently patients continue to consult and worry about the consequences of this condition.
  Illness Perception is a phrase used to describe how patients feel about their symptoms and how they affect them as well as the cause and the treatment. Previous research has shown that the first visit to the general practitioner has a great impact on how they think about and cope with their illness in the future and this has not received a great deal of attention in the past. It has been shown that many of patients do not agree with the treatment offered and are not satisfied with the diagnosis. Therefore, the needs and expectations of IBS patients do not appear to be met by how we currently treat them. As a result of this dissatisfaction patients keep consulting a whole variety of doctors and alternative practitioners in the hope of finding answers to their questions and some help with their symptoms. The way patients perceive their illness seems to influence how a patient copes with their problem in the future and this can be measured with the questionnaire. In this study we would like to measure Illness Perception before and after a consultation to see if we can identify things that doctors can do during a consultation that will improve the patient’s ability to understand and cope with their illness in the future. Hopefully such an understanding should lead to better patient satisfaction.

• REC name

  London - Bromley Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  14/LO/2083

• Date of REC Opinion

  8 Dec 2014

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion