Relationship between Neuroticism and Gastrointestinal Symptoms in Irritable Bowel Syndrome: The Mediating Role of Sleep

BACKGROUND: We aimed to explore the relationship between the sleep and gastrointestinal symptoms in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) from the perspective of personality factors. METHODS: Overall, 167 patients with IBS— from First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University in Jiangsu Province of China in 2019 were included. Gastrointestinal Symptom Score (GIS), Chinese version of Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) were used to assess gastrointestinal symptoms, sleep and personality. We use mediator variables analyze to explore the relationship between sleep, neurotic personality and gastrointestinal symptoms in IBS patients. RESULTS: 48.5% of IBS patients had sleep disorders. IBS patients with high neuroticism had higher total PSQI scores, longer sleep latency, worse sleep persistence, more nocturnal sleep disturbances and daytime dysfunctions, and more use of sleep medication (P<0.05). Stomach distention, cramping epigastric pain, loss of appetite, and epigastric pain were more prominent in IBS patients with high neuroticism (P<0.05). In addition, neurotic personality was significantly predictive of sleep and some gastrointestinal symptoms, and sleep was a complete mediator of neurotic personality and gastrointestinal symptoms in IBS patients. CONCLUSION: High neurotic personality in IBS patients leads to more prominent gastrointestinal symptoms by causing sleep disturbance.