Effect of Korean Herbal Medicine Combined with a Probiotic Mixture on Diarrhea-Dominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial
Table 2
Bowel function scores, symptom scores, and IBS quality of life scores after administration of study agents (8 weeks, intention-to-treat analysis).
Variables
GJS+DUO ()
GJS+DUO-P ()
GJS-P+DUO ()
GJS-P+DUO-P ()
value
Bowel function score
Frequency
14.31 (7.38)
14.00 (8.93)
12.25 (7.30)
12.00 (4.97)
0.806
Consistency†
1.19 (0.93)
0.96 (0.65)
1.15 (1.06)
0.85 (0.69)
0.862
Ease of passage‡
1.21 (0.73)
0.80 (0.61)
1.32 (1.04)
0.82 (0.73)
0.108
Symptom score (mm)
Abdominal pain
28.33 (20.60)
27.97 (18.35)
28.45 (18.55)
24.61 (14.87)
0.947
Abdominal discomfort
31.71 (19.44)
29.93 (17.51)
29.43 (19.78)
27.39 (14.26)
0.945
Bloating
26.08 (16.11)
25.65 (15.10)
31.81 (18.40)
28.73 (13.83)
0.752
Flatulence
25.67 (16.70)
23.88 (16.07)
28.27 (18.56)
31.60 (16.66)
0.689
Urgency
27.31 (21.53)
26.00 (19.83)
25.20 (15.23)
27.13 (15.58)
0.992
Mucus in stool
25.60 (23.75)
21.81 (19.66)
23.06 (16.70)
28.18 (19.21)
0.856
Overall symptom
32.37 (21.88)
30.98 (17.43)
31.55 (17.98)
33.65 (14.63)
0.985
IBS quality of life
Dysphoria
8.92 (7.69)
9.29 (7.69)
10.08 (6.29)
10.42 (6.57)
0.948
Interference with activity
8.85 (7.45)
7.00 (4.61)
8.38 (5.01)
7.92 (6.56)
0.871
Body image
3.92 (3.59)
2.57 (3.39)
4.00 (2.90)
2.92 (2.57)
0.586
Health worry
3.62 (2.43)
3.29 (2.09)
3.85 (1.91)
4.00 (2.26)
0.848
Food avoidance
5.46 (2.50)
5.50 (3.20)
5.25 (2.49)
4.17 (3.43)
0.641
Social reaction
4.38 (4.75)
3.50 (3.35)
4.09 (3.08)
3.92 (3.34)
0.938
Sexual
1.46 (1.94)
1.43 (1.95)
1.58 (2.07)
1.67 (1.61)
0.988
Relationship
2.62 (2.79)
2.29 (1.73)
3.15 (2.30)
2.42 (2.31)
0.781
Overall
39.23 (30.43)
34.86 (24.14)
39.85 (22.97)
37.42 (24.43)
0.958
GJS: Gwakhyangjeonggisan, DUO: Duolac7S, GJS-P: placebo of Gwakhyangjeonggisan, DUO-P: placebo of Duolac7S. All values were analyzed by Fisher’s exact test for categorical variables and one-way ANOVA for continuous variables. All scores are presented as mean (standard deviation). †Used a scale of 1–7: 1, watery stool; 7, hard, lumpy stool (based on Bristol stool form scale). ‡Used a scale of 1–7: 1, fecal incontinence; 7, manual disimpaction.
