Long-term impact of the low-FODMAP diet on gastrointestinal symptoms, dietary intake, patient acceptability, and healthcare utilization in irritable bowel syndrome

Background: The low-FODMAP diet is a frequently used treatment for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Most research has focused on short-term FODMAP restriction; however, guidelines recommend that high-FODMAP foods are reintroduced to individual tolerance. This study aimed to assess the long-term effectiveness of the low-FODMAP diet following FODMAP reintroduction in IBS patients. Methods: Patients with IBS were prospectively recruited to a questionnaire study following completion of dietitian-led low-FODMAP education. At baseline and following FODMAP restriction (short term) only, gastrointestinal symptoms were measured as part of routine clinical care. Following FODMAP reintroduction, (long term), symptoms, dietary intake, acceptability, food-related quality of life (QOL), and healthcare utilization were assessed. Data were reported for patients who continued long-term FODMAP restriction (adapted FODMAP) and/or returned to a habitual diet (habitual). Key Results: Of 103 patients, satisfactory relief of symptoms was reported in 12% at baseline, 61% at short-term follow-up, and 57% at long-term follow-up. At long-term follow-up, 84 (82%) patients continued an ‘adapted FODMAP’ diet (total FODMAP intake mean 20.6, SD 14.9\ua0g/d) compared with 19 (18%) of patients following a ‘habitual’ diet (29.4, SD 22.9\ua0g/d, P=.039). Nutritional adequacy was not compromised for either group. The ‘adapted FODMAP’ group reported the diet cost significantly more than the ‘habitual’ group (

The importance of acoustic quality in classroom

An effective learning process in a classroom with good speech intelligibility requires good acoustic quality. Low acoustic quality may cause frequent speech repetition and consequently leads to several emotional disorders among the students. The purpose of this study is to improve the acoustic quality of the classroom for a better learning process. Two classrooms at Faculty of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia have been selected for this study. Reverberation time is the most important factor in acoustics, which was determined using theoretical calculations and simulations. A Dass-21 of self-report questionnaires was used to measure the levels of depression, anxiety, and stress among the students. The results showed that reverberation times of the classrooms were more than 1 second and 34% of the students have suffered from severe and extreme anxiety. The acoustic quality can be improved through the replacement of a painted concrete wall with high sound absorption material made of kenaf fiber in order to ensure reverberation time does not exceed the limit