Table 2.
Key studies evaluating the LFD in IBS
| Lead author | Year | Study design | Study duration | Total number of participants | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Short term | |||||
| Staudacher [45] | 2012 | RCT | 4 weeks | 41 IBS patients (Rome III) | 68% response to LFD vs 23% on habitual diet (p = 0.005) |
| Pedersen [46] | 2014 | RCT | 6 weeks | 123 IBS patients (Rome III) | Significant reduction in IBS-SSS on LFD compared to normal Danish/Western diet (133 vs 68, p < 0.01) |
| Halmos [47] | 2014 | RCT | 3 weeks | 30 IBS patients (Rome III) | Lower overall gastrointestinal symptom scores on a LFD compared to Australian diet (23 vs 45, p < 0.001) |
| Bohn [48] | 2015 | RCT | 4 weeks | 75 IBS patients (Rome III) | 50% clinical response to LFD |
| Eswaran [49] | 2016 | RCT | 4 weeks | 92 IBS-D patients (Rome III) | 52% reported adequate relief of symptoms |
| Zahedi [50] | 2017 | RCT | 6 weeks | 110 IBS-D patients (Rome III) | Significant reduction in IBS-SSS following LFD (264 vs 108, p < 0.001) |
| Patcharatrakul [51] | 2019 | RCT | 4 weeks | 70 IBS patients (Rome III) | Global IBS symptom severity score using VAS were significantly lower following LFD compared to commonly recommended diet (39 vs 54, p < 0.01) |
| Goyal [52] | 2021 | RCT | 16 weeks | 101 IBS-D patients (Rome IV) | 63% response to LFD at week 4 and 53% response at week 16 |
| Long term | |||||
| de Roest [53] | 2013 | Observational | 16 months | 90 IBS patients (Definition not stated) | Most symptoms including abdominal pain, bloating, flatulence and diarrhoea improved following LFD (p < 0.001) |
| Peters [54] | 2016 | RCT | 6 months | 74 IBS patients (Rome III) | 82% improvement noted following LFD relative to baseline symptoms at 6 months |
| O’Keeffe [55] | 2017 | Prospective | 6-18 months | 74 IBS patients (Rome III) | 57% reported satisfactory relief at long term following LFD |
| Weynants [56] | 2020 | Retrospective | 100 weeks | 90 IBS patients (Rome III) | Patients following the LFD reported less abdominal pain than those who had stopped following the diet (p = 0.044) |
| Bellini [57] | 2020 | Prospective | 6-24 months | 73 IBS patients (Rome IV) | Clinical response reported at 83% in those who continued LFD at long term |
| Rej [58] | 2021 | Observational | 44 months | 205 IBS patients (Rome III) | 60% reported satisfactory relief at long term following LFD |
Total number of studies (short term); n = 8, total number of participants; n = 642
Total number of studies (long term); n = 6, total number of participants; n = 606