The Indian Motility and Functional Diseases Association and the Indian Society of Gastroenterology developed this evidence-based practice guideline for management of chronic constipation. A modified Delphi process was used to develop this consensus containing 29 statements, which were generated by electronic voting iteration as well as face to face meeting and review of the supporting literature primarily from India. These statements include 9 on epidemiology, clinical presentation, and diagnostic criteria; 8 on pathophysiology; and the remaining 12 on investigations and treatment. When the proportion of those who voted either to accept completely or with minor reservation was 80% or higher, the statement was regarded as accepted. The members of the consensus team believe that this would be useful for teaching, clinical practice, and research on chronic constipation in India and in other countries with similar spectrum of the disorders.

Background: Evaluate prevalence of functional constipation (FC) and irritable bowel syndrome-constipation (IBS-C) in Indian constipated patients and assess their demographic/socio-economic/clinical characteristics.Methods: Patients (≥18 years) who visited their general physician with symptoms of constipation (Rome III criteria for FC or IBS-C as per physician assessment) and willing to participate were enrolled in this prospective, clinical-epidemiological study. Demographic, socioeconomic status, lifestyle and dietary habits, comorbid conditions, treatment history, concomitant medications, stool form (Bristol stool form scale), severity of constipation (constipation scoring system [CSS]), constipation-related symptoms (patient assessment of constipation symptoms [PAC-SYM]) and quality of life (patient assessment of constipation-quality of life questionnaire [PAC-QoL]) were recorded.Results: Out of 925 constipated patients, 75.6% were diagnosed with FC against 24.4% with IBS-C (P < 0.0001). Patients of both subtypes had high average scores of PAC-SYM (FC: 27.1 ± 6; IBS-C: 30.1 ± 4.9) and CSS (FC: 8.4 ± 3.1; IBS-C: 11.2 ± 3), leading to high PAC-QoL score (FC: 38.1 ± 16.8; IBS-C: 42.2 ± 13.6). Hypertension (16%) and diabetes (10%) in patients with FC while acid peptic disorders (21.7%) amongst IBS-C patients were the most common comorbid conditions observed. Laxatives were the most common medication used; osmotic (32.6% versus 40.7%) and bulk laxatives (22.8% versus 37.4%) were the commonest laxatives. However, about 1/5th patients of FC were using home remedies.Conclusions: There was a higher prevalence of FC over IBS-C in Indian constipated patients; both subtypes had high frequency and severity of constipation-related symptoms and poor QoL.

The Indian Neurogastroenterology and Motility Association (INMA), earlier named the Indian Motility and Functional Diseases Association developed this evidence-based practice guidelines for the management of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). A modified Delphi process was used to develop this consensus containing 28 statements, which were concerning diagnostic criteria, epidemiology, etiopathogenesis and comorbidities, investigations, lifestyle modifications and treatments. Owing to the Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic, lockdowns and mobility restrictions, web-based meetings and electronic voting were the major tools used to develop this consensus. A statement was regarded as accepted when the sum of “completely accepted” and “accepted with minor reservation” voted responses were 80% or higher. Finally, the consensus was achieved on all 28 statements. The consensus team members are of the view that this work may find use in teaching, patient care, and research on IBS in India and other nations.

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