ASSOCIATION BETWEEN IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME SUBTYPE AND PAIN REDUCTION FOLLOWING INDIVIDUALIZED HOMOEOPATHIC TREATMENT: A DESCRIPTIVE SECONDARY ANALYSIS OF A RANDOMIZED TRIAL

Abstract

Background: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a disorder of gut–brain interaction associated with abdominal pain and altered bowel habits. Clinical presentations are commonly classified as constipation-predominant (IBS-C), diarrhoea predominant (IBS-D), or mixed (IBS-M). Describing outcomes across these subtypes may help identify questions for future research. Objective: To describe changes in abdominal pain scores by IBS subtype among participants who received individualized homoeopathic treatment using centesimal (CM) or LM potencies in a randomized clinical trial. Methods: This descriptive secondary analysis used data from 52 participants, with 26 in each treatment group. Participants were classified as IBS-C, IBS-D, or IBS-M. Pain was measured before and after treatment using the Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS). Pain reduction was defined as the pretreatment score minus the post-treatment score. Subgroup means and standard deviations were summarized, and an exploratory model assessed the treatment-group-by-subtype interaction. Results: There were 18 participants with IBS-C, 10 with IBS-D, and 24 with IBS-M. Mean pain reduction in the CM group was 3.00, 3.00, and 3.17 points for IBS-C, IBS-D, and IBS-M, respectively. The corresponding means in the LM group were 4.78, 5.20, and 4.75 points. The LM-minus-CM differences were 1.78, 2.20, and 1.58 points, respectively. The treatment-group-by-subtype interaction was not statistically significant (p = 0.534). Conclusion: Mean pain reduction was numerically greater in the LM group in each subtype, but the analysis did not show statistical evidence that the difference between treatment groups varied by IBS subtype. The findings are exploratory and should not be interpreted as definitive evidence of subtype-specific treatment effects.