Constructive thinking, rational intelligence and irritable bowel syndrome.

Aim: To evaluate rational and experiential intelligence in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) sufferers.

Methods: We recruited 100 subjects with IBS as per Rome II criteria (50 consulters and 50 non-consulters) and 100 healthy controls, matched by age, sex and educational level. Cases and controls completed a clinical questionnaire (including symptom characteristics and medical consultation) and the following tests: rational-intelligence (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, 3rd edition); experiential-intelligence (Constructive Thinking Inventory); personality (NEO personality inventory); psychopathology (MMPI-2), anxiety (state-trait anxiety inventory) and life events (social readjustment rating scale).

Determinants of quality of life in irritable bowel syndrome.

Objectives: Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is a main outcome in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), but most studies have been conducted on moderate-severe patients. We sought to ascertain the relative contribution of severity, anxiety, and personality to impairment of HRQOL in a sample representative of the entire IBS spectrum.

Materials And Methods: IBS consulters, IBS nonconsulters, and controls were invited to complete questionnaires designed to measure severity of IBS (Functional Bowel Disease Severity Index), anxiety (State-trait Anxiety Inventory), personality (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2), and HRQOL [Short Form 36 (SF-36)].