Clinical Efficacy of Probiotic Therapy on Bowel-Related Symptoms in Patients with Ulcerative Colitis during Endoscopic Remission: An Observational Study

Table 1

Baseline patient characteristics.

Variable	Overall ()
Age (years)
Gender
Female	19 (44.2)
Male	24 (55.8)
Presence of comorbidities
Yes	8 (18.6)
No	35 (81.4)
Alcohol
Yes	14 (32.6)
No	29 (67.4)
Smoking
Current	1 (2.3)
Former, never	42 (97.7)
Disease duration in years
<1 year	4 (9.3)
1–5 years	23 (53.5)
≥5 years	16 (37.2)
Disease extent at diagnosis
Proctitis	21 (48.8)
Left-sided colitis	12 (27.9)
Extensive colitis	10 (23.3)
Oral 5-ASA
Yes	42 (97.7)
No	1 (2.3)
5-ASA suppository
Yes	19 (44.2)
No	24 (55.8)
Anti-TNF
Yes	4 (9.3)
No	39 (90.7)
Azathioprine use
Yes	5 (11.6)
No	38 (88.4)
IBS subtype
IBS-diarrhea	15 (34.8)
IBS-mixed bowel habits	28 (65.2)
Symptoms of abdominal bloating
Yes	32 (74)
No	11 (26)

Values are or number (%). 5-ASA: 5-aminosalicylic acid; TNF: tumor necrosis factor; IBS: irritable bowel syndrome.