For a study, researchers sought to understand that IBS severity, psychological distress, somatic symptoms, and gastrointestinal (GI)-specific anxiety have all been linked to QoL in IBS. This study aimed to dig deeper into these associations and look for potential mediators. This study included 1,017 IBS patients (69.3% female, mean age 40.6 years) who completed a QoL measure (SF-36). The mediation analysis included a subset of these participants (N=183; 72.7% female, mean age 41.7) who also completed psychological distress, somatic symptoms, and GI-specific anxiety measures. A cross-sectional design was used for this analysis, which used structural equation modeling to identify factors important for generic QoL. IBS patients had lower QoL than the general population, particularly role limitations caused by health and emotional functioning, vitality, and social functioning. On most QoL dimensions, female patients scored lower than male patients. GI-specific anxiety mediated the effects of IBS severity on mental and physical QoL. Aside from GI-specific anxiety, depressive symptoms were important for mental QoL, and somatic symptom severity was important for physical QoL. QoL was reduced in IBS patients, and GI-specific anxiety, depressive symptoms, and somatic complaints played a significant role in this outcome. Future trials should look into the effectiveness of psychological interventions targeting these factors in improving QoL in people with IBS.
Source:www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022399922000940
