PERCEIVED STRESS AND GASTROINTESTINAL HABITS IN COLLEGE STUDENTS.

Abstract

Many negative effects of stress regarding cognitive performances and gastrointestinal habits were previously reported in both animal models and human participants. We aimed to compare perceived stress levels with declared gastrointestinal habits changes in a small cohort of college students during academic acquisition and evaluation periods. College students were recruited and divided into two groups: the control group evaluated during the acquisition period of the academic year and the stressed group evaluated during the examination period. The students' psychological and gastrointestinal status was evaluated using a common stress questionnaire and a gastrointestinal habits survey. Our results showed increased perceived stress in college students during stressful conditions, as compared to lesser demanding periods. Similarly, more than 40%of the participants declared that gastrointestinal habits changes occurred during stressful periods. We observed significant correlations between the perceived stress levels and gastrointestinal habits changes. This small-sized survey study showed that the occurrence of the stressful event in young adults recorded higher perceived stress scores and frequent functional gastrointestinal symptoms, as compared to the lower stressful periods. Also, we showed that functional gastrointestinal symptoms are rather common and could be regarded as a negative response to stress.