Table 2.
Partial correlation matrix among the subjective experience of therapeutic impact, number of treatment attempts, symptom severity, psychological comorbidities, and quality of life.
| 1) | 2) | 3) | 4) | 5) | 6) | 7) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1) Overall PGIC1 | 1.000 | ||||||
| 2) Treatment number2 | −0.320** | 1.000 | |||||
| 3) Symptom severity (IBS-SSS) | −0.381** | 0.254** | 1.000 | ||||
| 4) Depression (PHQ-9) | −0.354** | 0.184* | 0.461** | 1.000 | |||
| 5) Anxiety (GAD-7) | −0.279** | 0.170* | 0.504** | 0.806** | 1.000 | ||
| 6) Disease-related fear (WI-7) | −0.257** | 0.062 | 0.473** | 0.552** | 0.641** | 1.000 | |
| 7) Quality of life (FDDQL) | 0.427** | −0.263** | −0.725** | −0.472** | −0.558** | −0.584** | 1.000 |
| Sub-analyses | |||||||
| PGIC number non-specific general therapeutic recommendations | −0.056 | ||||||
| PGIC number dietary recommendations | −0.212* | ||||||
| PGIC number psychosocial interventions | 0.012 | ||||||
| PGIC number symptom-targeting medications | −0.313** | ||||||
| PGIC number complementary interventions | −0.261* | ||||||
*p < 0.05; **p < 0.01. 1Overall PGIC was used to measure the subjective experience of impact by all treatments ever used. 2Treatment number, i.e., number of attempted treatments ever used. Control variables were the duration of symptoms and the mean period of time since the first visit in the analyses. PGIC, Patient Global Impression of Change. IBS-SSS, IBS Symptom Severity Scale; GAD-7, Generalized Anxiety Disorder seven-item questionnaire; PHQ-9, nine-item depression module of the patient health questionnaire; WI-7, brief Whitley Index-7; FDDQL, quality of life questionnaire for functional digestive disorders.