Gastrointestinal-specific anxiety: an important factor for severity of GI symptoms and quality of life in IBS.

JERNDAL, P.; RINGSTRÖM, G.; AGERFORZ, P.; KARPEFORS, M.; AKKERMANS, L. M.; BAYATI, A.; SIMRÉN, M.

Background Gastrointestinal (GI)-specific anxiety (GSA) has been proposed to influence symptom severity and quality of life (QOL) in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The Visceral Sensitivity Index (VSI) is a recently developed, reliable and valid measure of GSA. Our aim was to evaluate the association between GSA, GI symptom severity, and QOL in IBS patients. Methods Sixty healthy subjects and 306 patients fulfilling the Rome II criteria for IBS were studied. Demographic and disease-related factors were assessed. Patients completed VSI and GI Symptom Rating Scale (GSRS) and questionnaires to determine psychological symptom severity (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), QOL (Short form 36), and presence of functional GI disorders (Rome II Modular Questionnaire). Key Results Compared with healthy subjects, patients with IBS had more severe GSA (34.7 ± 16.9 vs. 2.2 ± 4.4 [mean ± standard deviation]; P 2 = 0.34). Gastrointestinal-specific anxiety was also, together with general anxiety, depression, socioeconomic status, and gender, found to be independently associated with mental QOL ( R2 = 0.62). Conclusions & Inferences Gastrointestinal-specific anxiety seems to be an important factor for GI symptom severity and QOL in patients with IBS.

GASTROINTESTINAL diseases; IRRITABLE colon; QUALITY of life; COLON diseases; GASTROENTEROLOGY

Neurogastroenterology & Motility, 2010, Vol 22, Issue 6, p646

1350-1925

Academic Journal

10.1111/j.1365-2982.2010.01493.x