Association of anxiety-depressive disorders with irritable bowel syndrome among patients attending a rural family practice center: a comparative cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Comorbidity of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and psychiatric disorders is common, and the prevalence of at least one psychiatric disorder has been reported as high as 80% among patients with IBS. AIMS: To explore the association of anxiety-depressive disorders with IBS and its different subtypes, and to evaluate the associations of lifestyle habits, dietary habits and sleeping quality with IBS. METHODS: A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted at the AL-Mahsama Family Practice Center, Ismailia, Egypt. It was carried out between October 2019 and October 2020. Participants were categorised into 175 patients with IBS, diagnosed using the Rome IV criteria, and 175 patients without IBS. A semistructured questionnaire was used to collect data on sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle habits, dietary habits and sleep quality from both groups. The Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale was used to assess anxiety symptoms, whereas the Beck Depression Inventory Second Edition was used to assess depression symptoms. RESULTS: There was a high statistically significant difference between both groups with regard to age, education, occupation and socioeconomic status (SES), being a smoker, being physically inactive, having sleep disturbance and having irregular meals; being either obese or overweight was more reported in the IBS group. There was a high statistically significant difference in the rate of anxiety and depression between patients with and without IBS. Mild, moderate and severe anxiety were reported in 37.1%, 42.9% and 20.0% of patients with IBS while most (80.0%) of the patients without IBS reported mild anxiety. Regarding depression, mild, moderate and severe depression were reported in 60.0%, 14.3% and 25.7% of the patients with IBS while most (82.9%) of the non-IBS participants reported mild depression. CONCLUSIONS: The study shows a significant association between anxiety-depressive disorders and IBS, but no significant associations between anxiety-depressive disorders and IBS subtypes.