Comparing Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Psychiatric Illness to Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Abstract

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a prevalent disease that patients report within primary care and contributes approximately 14% - 51% of fresh patients to gastrointestinal centres while inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) which includes ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, is among the crippling persistent gastrointestinal disorders that considerably negatively affect a participant's physical, psychological, family, and social aspects. The objective of our research was to compare the effects of IBD and IBS in two groups of outpatients. The study was carried out at Qazi Hussain Ahmed Medical Complex Nowshera from September 2021 to Jan 2022. All outpatients with a confirmed diagnosis of IBS (n=49) and IBD (n=27) were requested to participate in the study. 87.76% of patients (n=43) with irritable bowel syndrome and 18.51% of patients (n=5) with inflammatory bowel disease had at least one of these lifetime diagnoses. 24.48%, 22.44%, and 22.44% of the subjects had lifetime diagnoses of major depression (n = 12), panic (n = 11), or somatization disorder (n = 11). 73.5% of the patients with irritable bowel syndrome (n=36) had a history of panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, phobia, major depression, somatization disorder, or a combination of these illnesses before the beginning of their gastrointestinal symptoms. Compared to patients with IBD individuals with IBS had greater sensitivity to modest physical symptoms, more psychological discomfort, and a higher lifetime frequency of mental illnesses.