Table 1.

The Rome Diagnostic Criteria for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).^*

Recurrent abdominal pain or discomfort at least 3 days per month for the past 3 months, associated with two or more of the following:

Improvement with defecation

Onset associated with a change in frequency of stool

Onset associated with a change in form (appearance) of stool

^*Data are from Longstreth et al.² Criteria must have been fulfilled for the past 3 months, with symptom onset at least 6 months before diagnosis. On the basis of the predominant bowel habit, IBS has been categorized into one of the following subgroups: IBS with diarrhea (more common in men), IBS with constipation (more common in women), and IBS with mixed bowel habits. Each group accounts for about one third of all patients. According to current diagnostic criteria, IBS must be differentiated from functional abdominal pain syndrome (in IBS, symptoms of abdominal pain are associated with alterations in bowel movements) and from chronic functional constipation and chronic functional diarrhea (in IBS, pain and discomfort are associated with altered bowel habits).