Subjects
IBS
DIGESTIVE DISEASE, SYSTEMIC DISEASE, GASTROINTESTINAL DISEASES
This cross-sectional survey was conducted according to STROBE guidelines at the Gastroenterology Service, Mexico General Hospital “Eduardo Liceaga” and the Iberoamerican University following the Declaration of Helsinki and its subsequent declaration revisions. Informed consent was obtained from all subjects before the interview. This study, which investigates the prevalence of SxD in IBS patients as well as its influence on the quality of life in the Mexican female population, is part of a broader protocol that is ongoing, has been approved by the local ethics and research committees (DI/19/107/03/080) and is registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT04716738).We recruited consecutive sexually active women in the open population by opportunity sampling from March to September 2019. For study inclusion, the participants must have met the following criteria: between 18 and 50 years, provided informed consent, and agreed to answer the questionnaires. We excluded women with noncontrolled systemic disease, pregnant women, breastfeeding women, menopausal women, women taking medications regularly in the previous 3 months, and women with an established diagnosis of other sexual and/or gastrointestinal diseases. Patients who did not accept contact information, did not answer the complete questionnaires, failed to understand the instructions, and/or were unreachable after the application of questionnaires were eliminated from the study.To avoid selection bias, we applied the questionnaires in a single interview on consecutive women, and data were entered in a spreadsheet that was not analyzed immediately. We performed the first analysis 2 months after the start of the study that the psychology students presented at the Iberoamerican University. We performed a second analysis in July that was presented at the Mexican Congress of Gastroenterology. In November 2019, we performed the last interim analysis for the Digestive Disease Week. Finally, between July and December 2020, we performed the final analysis for this article.