The burden of irritable bowel syndrome and chronic constipation on health-related quality of life in black Africans: a comparison with healthy control subjects in Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa

Abstract

Background: Although patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and chronic constipation (CC) have an impaired health-related quality of life (HRQoL), little is known in black African patients compared with control subjects. This study provided the magnitude and the influencing factors of HRQoL impairment in black African outpatients with IBS or CC compared with control subjects using the generic SF-36 questionnaire.

Materials and methods: One hundred and four consecutive black African outpatients complaining with IBS (n=72, mean age=38.9 years, female=62.5%) and CC (n=32, mean age=37.4 years, female=75%) met Rome 3 criteria were compared with 210 control subjects (mean age=37.4 years, 63.8% male). The SF-36 scores in all domains of HRQoL with the corresponding physical (PCS) and mental (MCS) composite scores between groups were compared with post hoc analysis and multivariate linear regression analysis for the assessment of the influencing factors.

Results: Overall, IBS and CC patients exhibited low SF-36 scores in the 8 domains of HRQoL in comparison with control subjects. IBS patients scored less in mental health (mean difference=−10.3, p=0.001), bodily pain (mean difference=−23.5, p≤0.0001), and social functioning domains (mean difference =−15.1, p=0.01) in comparison with CC patients. Post hoc analysis demonstrated a trend down of PCS (mean difference=−12.9, p<0.0001) and MCS (mean difference=−11.2, p=0.01) disfavoring IBS patients than those with CC in comparison with control subjects. In multivariate linear regression analysis, besides the negative impact of IBS and CC, factors influencing PCS were BMI (β=0.4; p=0.01) and comorbidities (β=−5.9; p=0.002). Those influencing MCS were the presence of remunerated activity (β=2.7, p=0.02), and patient living alone (β=9.4; p=0.04).

Conclusion: IBS and CC impact negatively on the HRQoL in black African subjects and more importantly in those with IBS than CC.

Keywords:

• irritable bowel syndrome
• chronic constipation
• quality of life
• SF-36 questionnaire
• black Africans

Acknowledgments

We want to thank Mr Gadafi Iddrisu Balali, Department of Theoretical and Applied Biology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi Ghana, for having corrected the English translation of the manuscript.

Disclosure

Dr Alassan Kouamé Mahassadi reports personal fees and non-financial support from Genix Pharma and Sanofi, outside the submitted work. The authors report no other conflicts of interest in this work.