BOSTON– Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: IRWD), a GI-focused healthcare company, presented new findings at the Digestive Disease Week® (DDW) 2021 virtual meeting from a survey highlighting disease burden and care-seeking behavior among adult patients with irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C) during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The poster presentation, titled Disease Burden and Care-Seeking Behavior for IBS-C Patients in the United States in the Era of COVID-19 (presentation number Fr014), summarized data from a cross-sectional online general health survey of 130 adults with IBS-C conducted from August through October 2020. More than a third of surveyed IBS-C patients indicated their symptoms had worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, nearly a quarter reported cancelling healthcare visits due to COVID-19. Also, nearly half (46%) of surveyed IBS-C patients reported that they did not seek care from a healthcare provider in the past year for their symptoms.
“As a physician, my biggest takeaway from this survey is that while IBS-C patients’ symptoms have been exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic, they are unfortunately not speaking with their doctors, and hence the disease continues to have a wide impact despite availability of prescription treatment options,” said Brian E. Lacy, M.D., Ph.D., Gastroenterology, Neurogastroenterology, the Mayo Clinic. “It is critical for patients to recognize they have a legitimate medical condition that needs treatment and to take that step of speaking with their physician – either in person or through a telehealth appointment.”
