Table 1.

Baseline Characteristics of the Patients With Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Characteristics	Probiotic group (n = 25)	Placebo group (n = 25)	P-value
Age (yr)	37.9 ± 12.4	40.3 ± 11.2	0.492
Sex			0.156
Male	12 (48)	14 (56)
Female	13 (52)	11 (44)
BMI (kg/m2)	23 ± 3.3	22.9 ± 2.9	0.916
Smoker	2 (8)	4 (16)	0.416
Alcohol intake	6 (24)	9 (36)	0.359

BMI, body mass index.

Data are presented as mean ± SD or n (%).