Üreme Çağındaki İrritabl Bağırsak Sendromlu Kadınlarda Anksiyete Belirtileri, Sağlık Kaygısı ve Yaşam Kalitesi: Bir Vaka-Kontrol Çalışması

Ahmet Uyanıkoğlu; Ceylan Keskin; Fatma Zehra Ağan

doi:10.5281/zenodo.22900707

Authors

Ahmet Uyanıkoğlu Harran University https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4881-5244
Ceylan Keskin Harran University https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4669-6483
Fatma Zehra Ağan Harran University https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3784-8553

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22900707

Keywords:

Irritable bowel syndrome, Anxiety, Health anxiety, Quality of life, Gut–brain interaction.

Abstract

Objective: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a disorder of gut–brain interaction in which psychological factors are considered to play an important role in determining symptom severity and disease-specific quality of life. This study investigated anxiety symptoms, health anxiety, and disease-specific quality of life in women of reproductive age with IBS and compared the findings with those obtained from healthy women.

Materials and Methods: A total of 100 women were enrolled in this cross-sectional case–control study, including 50 patients who met the Rome IV diagnostic criteria for IBS and 50 healthy volunteers. Anxiety symptoms, health anxiety, and disease-specific quality of life were assessed using the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), the Health Anxiety Inventory (HAI), and the Irritable Bowel Syndrome Quality of Life (IBS-QoL) questionnaire, respectively. Clinical characteristics and questionnaire scores were compared between the study groups using appropriate statistical methods.

Results: The IBS and control groups were comparable with regard to age (p=0.120). Smoking and a history of psychiatric disorders were more frequent among participants with IBS than among healthy controls (p=0.041 and p=0.031, respectively). While HAI scores were similar between the groups (p=0.284), women with IBS demonstrated significantly higher BAI scores (p=0.001). In addition, IBS-QoL scores indicated a marked deterioration in disease-specific quality of life in the IBS group compared with the control group (p<0.001).

Discussion and Conclusion: Among women of reproductive age, IBS was associated with greater anxiety symptom severity and reduced disease-specific quality of life, while health anxiety remained comparable to that of healthy women. These findings highlight the importance of considering psychological well-being during the clinical evaluation of IBS and support a multidisciplinary approach to patient management.

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