A study of psychiatric comorbidities in irritable bowel syndrome

Abstract

Background Irretable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional syndrome characterized by chronic abdominal pain accompanied by altered bowel habits. Stress often worsens the symptoms of patients with IBS. Psychiatric disorders and IBS appear to have bidirectional comorbidities. Objectives The aim of this study was to assess the psychiatric comorbidities in patients with IBS. Patients and methods The study included a total number of 150 patients complaining of IBS symptoms with at least one episode of abdominal pain or flatulence per week in association with a change in bowel habit. All patients in the study were subjected to a detailed history taking and complete general and local abdominal examination. Moreover, International Classification of Diseases-10th revision internal medicine criteria for diagnosis, International Classification of Diseases-10th revision symptom checklist for mental disorders, and social readjustment rating scale were estimated. Results Patients of all age groups visit the clinics when they complain from IBS, mostly those of ages ranging from 31 to 40 years, who represented 38% of the studied group. Females complained more than males (66 and 34%). The most frequent psychiatric comorbidity with IBS was the neurotic and behavioral syndromes (53.3%) followed by psychotic and affective syndromes (32%), then the organic mental and psychoactive substance use syndrome (8%), and lastly, the personality disorders (4%). There was a significant association between IBS type and depression, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), panic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), and somatization. Moreover, there was a significant correlation between IBS type and bipolar disorder, depression, GAD, panic disorder, OCD, somatization, and nonorganic sleep disorder. Conclusion Most patients with IBS have associated psychiatric or somatic comorbidities or overlapping other functional gastrointenstinal disorder (FGIDs). Patients with IBS have significantly higher levels of psychiatric comorbidities than healthy ones and are more susceptible to stress-related disorders.