Psychological Status and Irritable Bowel Syndrome among Healthcare Workers

Abstract

Introduction: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional gastrointestinal disorder with a global prevalence characterized by disturbances in bowel habits in the absence of known organic pathology. Psychological stress has been blamed to be a major factor leading to gastrointestinal symptoms. Aim of work: To assess the prevalence and predictors of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) among healthcare workers (HCWs) together with assessment of the psychological status of this affected cohorts. Materials and methods: A retrospective cohort study was carried out during the period from November 2018 to June 2019 at a tertiary care hospitals in an Egyptian governorate on 622 participants distributed as HCWs (No=402) working at the studied hospitals and a control group (No=220) visiting the Family Medicine outpatient clinic at the same hospitals. A questionnaire including Rome III diagnostic criteria had been administered to the studied groups. Regarding the psychiatric state of the studied participants, the Arabic version of Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale (TMA) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scale were used. Results: The study showed that the prevalence of IBS was 14.4% among HCWs vs. 8.8% among controls. Regarding awareness of IBS, 73.4% of HCWs reported awareness vs. 23% among controls but regarding misconception of IBS, it was reported among 32.3% of controls vs. 17.7% among HCWs. . Regarding psychiatric status, emotional stress, anxiety, depression, and mixed-status; the study reported higher percentage among IBS patients P<0.001. Logistic regression was performed to ascertain the effects of sex, emotional stress, anxiety, depression, working hours and specialty on the likelihood that participants who have IBS and it was statistically significant, χ2= 75.15, p < 0.001. The model correctly classified 87.6% of cases. HCWs suffering from emotional stress or depression were 2 and 3 times respectively more likely to exhibit IBS. Conclusion: IBS was more prevalent among HCWs together with psychiatric disorders giving high priority to in-depth analysis of the work environment to stand on all factors and finding a solution to this critical problem.