Abstract
Irritable bowel syndrome is a commonly recognized chronic disease in all healthcare settings. This integrative review investigated current knowledge about adults' illness-related experiences of this disease from the perspectives of everyday life, healthcare, and self-care management. The overarching findings related to everyday life with irritable bowel syndrome were life-limiting experiences of the body-self as unfamiliar and of the body and symptoms as shameful and unpredictable. The limitations manifested as lack of ability to move about freely, fulfill ambitions or commitments at work, maintain social activities, uphold or develop close and/or sexual relationships and parenting, and live a life with spontaneity. Physical condition, knowledge about disease/illness-related matters, and one's own perceived ability to find adequate strategies were significant for the ability of self-care management. Healthcare was experienced as being unsupportive and not providing information and guidance for enabling self-care management. These results suggest a need for controlled intervention trials of healthcare models that take as their point of departure the individual's experience of illness, needs, and life situation, and that enable learning and sharing of illness experiences, combined with the provision of scientific knowledge and advice from healthcare professionals.