Review Article

Psychological Therapies in Patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Table 3

Subgroup analysis.

SubgroupSMDLower limitUpper limitInteraction test

Risk of bias: high versus low
Outcome: IBS composite symptoms severity scales
High value = 0.79
Low

Intervention: CBT versus other forms of psychotherapy
Outcome: IBS composite symptoms severity scales
CBT value = 0.56
Other
Outcome: quality of life scales
CBT0.740.490.99 value = 0.15
Other0.500.280.72

Control group: received medication versus no medication
Outcome: IBS composite symptoms severity scales
Yes value = 0.75
No
Outcome: quality of life scales
Yes0.580.310.85 value = 0.80
No0.620.390.86

SMD: standardized difference in means; IBS: irritable bowel syndrome; CBT: cognitive behavioral therapy.