Use of dietary management in irritable bowel syndrome by dietitians in Poland

Background
In the populations of developed countries, the prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) has been reported to be 4.6%. Dietary therapy is a mainstay of treatment for gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms in patients with IBS.

Objectives
The aim of the study was to gauge the perceptions of Polish dietitians towards dietary therapies for IBS.

Material and methods
A 32-question survey was distributed to dietitians actively consulting IBS patients. Data allowing to identify any specific practice patterns or knowledge gaps, which should be addressed to increase the quality of patient care, was collected. Survey responses were summarised using simple proportions.

Results
262 survey responses were included to the study results (53.6% of total responses). IBS patients most commonly use a trial-and-error approach and rarely use a low fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols (FODMAP) diet on their own. As many as 74% of dietitians did not cooperate with gastroenterologist, and 71.8% did not cooperate with psychotherapists or psychologists to offer multidisciplinary or integrated care for IBS patients. Only 48% of dietitians were usually able to go through all 3 phases of the low FODMAP diet with their IBS patients.

Conclusions
Some gaps in practice patterns of dietitians in Poland, especially lack of cooperation with other specialists treating IBS patients, were identified, and less than half dietitians were usually able to follow all 3 phases of the low FODMAP diet with IBS patients, which indicates the need to introduce additional training for working dietitians.