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IBS symptoms and quality of life 55 3 Follow-up – Demographics, clinical characteristics, and symptoms of the Rome III-positive and –negative patients The 161 patients in whom IBS criteria could be checked by phone were included in the final analysis. The majority of patients was female (74.5%) and median age was 53 years old (IQR=36-65). In total, 49 out of the 161 (30.4%) did no longer fulfill the Rome III criteria for IBS at follow-up ( Figure 3.1 ). Figure 3.1 Flowchart of follow-up of N =379 IBS patients included in the Maastricht IBS Cohort study. N ; number, IBS; Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Demographical and clinical characteristics at follow-up of the Rome III-negative and Rome III-positive patients are shown in Table 3.1 . The groups did not differ significantly in age or gender, although the Rome III-positive group was slightly younger. As expected, Rome III- negative patients had significantly lower GI symptom scores compared to Rome III-positive