Anxiety and Depression in a Sample of Iranian Patients With Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Objective: Previous studies have shown that up to 50% to 70% of patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) who seek treatment have psychiatric comorbidity. The aim of this study was to report the history of anxiety and depression in IBS patients. Methods: The study, designed as a cross-sectional, was performed in a consecutive sample of individuals diagnosed with IBS in the Gastroenterology Clinic of Taleghani Hospital, Tehran province, Iran from October 2010 to October 2011. IBS was diagnosed according to the Rome III criteria. All participants were asked about perceived psychiatric symptoms such as depression and anxiety in the past six months. Results: 153 treatment-seeking IBS patients were entered to the study. The mean age of IBS patients with history of psychiatric symptoms (33.9 years) was relatively lower than those without this history (39.3 years); p< 0.05. There was a significant difference regarding mean age of diarrhea-predominant IBS (IBS-D) patients with history of psychiatric symptoms (26.8 years) and without such history (37.9 years); p< 0.05. However, such a difference was not seen among other types of IBS. The most frequent psychiatric symptoms were reported by the constipation-predominant IBS (IBS-C) patients followed by mixed-IBS (IBS-M) and the least rate was seen in IBS-D. Conclusion: Approximately half of IBS patients reported anxiety and/or depression. IBS-C patients experienced higher proportions of anxiety and depression.