Results from a Cross-Sectional Observational Study Examining Irritable Bowel Syndrome Patients Six Months After Finishing Their Participation in the ViIBS Trial.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: A recent clinical (ViIBS) trial investigating the effects of a balanced multi-strain synbiotic in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) patients showed that twelve weeks of treatment resulted in significant improvements across all major IBS symptoms. The current observational study pursued three aims: investigate patients' attitude towards the intake of pro- or synbiotics during the six months after finishing their trial participation, determine the severity of IBS symptoms, and assess IBS diagnosis scores.

METHODS

During a single six-month follow-up examination, patients were asked about the intake of probiotics or synbiotics. For the study, former placebo-group patients who abstained from taking probiotics were compared with synbiotic-group patients who continued taking the tested synbiotic. IBS symptom severity was assessed with the IBS-Severity of Symptoms Scale and the IBS diagnosis score with the IBS questionnaire of the World Gastroenterology Organisation.

RESULTS

The control group comprised 17 patients (out of 70 from the placebo group participating in the follow-up) and the treatment group 75 (out of 91 examined). IBS symptom severity was significantly lower in the treatment group (23.5 ± 33.1) than in the placebo group (232.6 ± 35.1). IBS diagnosis scores were 5.9 ± 2.5 and 21.2 ± 2.0 in the treatment and control group, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Measurement values for the treatment group indicate the absence of IBS. The results indicate that the prolonged administration of the balanced multi-strain synbiotic can potentially reduce IBS symptom severity and IBS diagnosis scores to levels indicating the absence of IBS, an observation to be followed up in a controlled clinical trial.