Effect of Bifidobacterium longum 35624 on disease severity and quality of life in patients with irritable bowel syndrome

Table 1 Baseline characteristics of the study participants (mean ± SD)

Characteristic	IBS group, n = 233
Median age (IQR), yr	51.0 (37–66)
Female sex, n (%)	166 (71.2)
BMI (kg/m2)	24.5 ± 4.3
IBS sub-types (transit pattern), n (%)
IBS-C	71 (30.5)
IBS-D	89 (38.2)
IBS-M	61 (26.2)
IBS-U	12 (5.2)
IBS severity categories (IBS-SSS), n (%)
Remission (0–74)	2 (0.8)
Mild (75–174)	11 (4.7)
Moderate (175–299)	112 (48.1)
Severe (> 300)	108 (46.4)
IBS-QOL (0–100)	60.2 ± 20.5

BMI: Body mass index; C: Constipation; D: Diarrhea; IBS: Irritable bowel syndrome; IBS-QOL: Irritable bowel syndrome quality of life; IBS-SSS: Irritable bowel syndrome severity scoring system; IQR: Interquartile range; M: Mixed; U: Unclassified.

Table 2 Absolute evolution of irritable bowel syndrome quality of life and irritable bowel syndrome severity scoring system after treatment (mean ± SD)

	IBS-C, n = 71	IBS-D, n = 89	IBS-M, n = 61	IBS-U, n = 12	P values1
IBS-SSS scores absolute evolution	-89.5 ± 105.9	-107.4 ± 85.5	-91.7 ± 85.6	-66.0 ± 104.2	0.115 (NS)
IBS-QOL scores absolute evolution	8.9 ± 14.1	10.4 ± 15.8	6.6 ± 14.8	4.7 ± 10.9	0.658 (NS)

¹Intergroup comparison was assessed with a Kruskal Wallis test.

C: Constipation; D: Diarrhea; IBS: Irritable bowel syndrome; IBS-QOL: Irritable bowel syndrome quality of life; IBS-SSS: Irritable bowel syndrome severity scoring system; M: Mixed; NS: Not significant; SD: Standard deviation; U: Unclassified.