Coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic stress and its effects on irritable bowel syndrome patients in Saudi Arabia

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 pandemic has affected the psychological health of people, causing a higher level of stress. Stress can exaggerate the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). To assess the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic stress on patients with IBS in Saudi Arabia. A descriptive cross-sectional approach was used, which targeted accessible subjects with IBS from different regions of Saudi Arabia. Data were collected from participants using a structured electronic questionnaire, which captured the participants’ socio-demographic data, medical history, IBS clinical data, self-reported stress due to COVID-19, and its effect on IBS symptoms. A total of 1255 IBS patients completed the questionnaire. About 63.4% of them reported stress due to the pandemic. The most frequently reported causes of stress were fear of infection occurring in the family, followed by fear of self-infection (43.5%), and death due to COVID-19 infection (17.2%). Most of the stressed participants (56.6%) reported that stress usually exaggerated IBS symptoms. Almost 22% of them consulted a physician for stress aggravation of the symptoms, 18.1% used sedatives due to stress, 9.2% modified IBS medications due to the stress, and 75.5% of the participants reported impaired daily activities due to symptoms exacerbation. Coexisting chronic morbidities and inability to differentiate between COVID-19 gastrointestinal symptoms and IBS symptoms were significantly associated with COVID-19 related stress (P = .039 and .001, respectively). Two-thirds of IBS patients were stressed during the first few months of COVID-19 pandemic. Patients unable to differentiate between COVID-19 gastrointestinal tract symptoms and IBS symptoms, and patients suffering from chronic morbidities were more vulnerable. Pandemic stress exacerbated patients’ symptoms and impacted their activities of daily life.