Patienternas upplevelse av att följa FODMAP : Patients experience of eating according to FODMAP

Sammanfattning: ABSTRACT   Background Irritable bowel syndrome is the most common functional gastrointestinal disease affecting an average of 5-10% of the population. IBS cannot be cured, but proper treatment can alleviate the symptoms. FODMAP diet has proven to be the most effective treatment, which means reducing the intake of foods that the intestine has difficulty to digest. Objective The study aims at investigating IBS patients' experiences of following FODMAP dietary treatment. Method Six individual qualitative interviews were conducted with patients at a clinic in a suburb north of Stockholm. The purpose of the interviews was to get a person's view of their experiences with FODMAP dietary treatment. The interviews were recorded electronically and then verbally transcribed. The transcripts were then analyzed according to Granheim and Lundman's content analysis. Results Individuals who suffer from IBS have various kinds of constraints, their symptoms hindered their everyday lives and their social life, which affected relationships with relatives negatively. Those who did not get enough support from their close relatives experienced loneliness and found the FODMAP treatment more difficult to follow. FODMAP treatment required drastic dietary changes and symptoms were obtained when wrong food was consumed and it made that treatment felted difficult sometimes. Planning and purchasing were experienced as time consuming and complicated. The participants mentioned that they felt a sense of uncertainty for trying new foods, which meant that the diet often became monotonous.Conclusion It was clear that this patient group is in need of support from several different directions. With frequent healthcare contact, patients would gain increased knowledge about their illness. This would contribute to reduced risk of recurrent symptoms and the compliance of treatment would be increased. More support would help patients find tools to simplify their everyday lives. Healthcare professionals could also be able to provide adequate education for relatives, which would increase understanding of the disease and its treatment.