Table 1.

Baseline characteristics.

		Treatment groups		Sig. *
	Total	Conventional nutritional therapy	Ayurvedic nutritional therapy
	(n = 69)	(n = 34)	(n = 35)
Age	46.4 ± 13.9	41.8 ± 14.4	50.8 ± 12.0	0.006
	Median: 50	Median: 38	Median: 52
Sex (women)	75.4%	70.6%	80.0%	0.364
Body mass index	24.1 ± 3.7	23.3 ± 3.5	25.9 ± 3.7	0.052
Duration of IBS diagnosis (years)	8.0 ± 8.8	6.7 ± 7.3	9.2 ± 10.0	0.264
Patients' expectations for conventional nutritional therapy	5.7 ± 2.3	5.7 ± 2.1	5.6 ± 2.4	0.171
Patients' expectations for Ayurvedic nutritional therapy	7.4 ± 2.0	7.5 ± 1.6	7.4 ± 2.3	0.072
Previous drug therapy for IBS
Analgetics	3 (4.4%)	1 (3.0%)	2 (5.7%)	0.59
Antispasmodics	5 (7.4%)	1 (3.0%)	4 (11.4%)	0.19
Laxatives	2 (2.9%)	1 (3.0%)	1 (2.9%)	0.97
Antidiarrheal drugs	4 (5.9%)	1 (3.0%)	3 (8.6%)	0.33
Probiotics	28 (41.2%)	14 (42.4%)	14 (40.0%)	0.84
Phytotherapeutic agents	27 (39.7%)	14 (42.4%)	13 (37.1%)	0.66
Concomitant and previous illnesses
Cardiovascular diseases	16 (23.5%)	6 (18.2%)	10 (28.6%)	0.42
Renal diseases	4 (5.9%)	3 (9.1%)	1 (2.9%)	0.24
Metabolic diseases	8 (11.8%)	1 (3.0%)	7 (20.0%)	0.40
Skin diseases	5 (7.4%)	3 (9.1%)	2 (5.7%)	0.17
Irritable Bowel Syndrome – Severity Scoring System (IBS-SSS)	275.9 ± 77.1	279 ± 78.2	272.7 ± 77.1	0.731
Quality Of Life (IBS-QOL)	53.0 ± 20.7	52.6 ± 21.8	53.4 ± 19.9	0.862
Cohen Perceived Stress Scale (CPSS)	19.7 ± 7.0	19.4 ± 7.7	19.9 ± 6.3	0.767
Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS-Total)	14.1 ± 6.0	13.7 ± 6.2	14.6 ± 5.8	0.524
Hospital Anxiety Scale (HADS-A)	8.3 ± 3.7	7.9 ± 3.9	8.6 ± 3.6	0.447
Hospital Depression Scale (HADS-D)	5.8 ± 3.3	5.7 ± 3.6	5.9 ± 3.0	0.767
WHO-5 Well-Being Index	43.7 ± 20.5	45.1 ± 20.2	42.4 ± 20.9	0.594

^*Statistical tests to compare baseline data in randomized controlled trials have remained questionable since 1990 (Ahn, 2019). Tests of baseline differences are not necessarily wrong, just illogical (Senn, 1994).