The role of psychiatric and psychological factors on the onset of irritable bowel syndrome and the differences between males and females

Objective The aim of this study is to discuss the role of psychiatric and psychological factors on the onset of irritable bowel syndrome(IBS) and the differences between males and females through comparing the levels of anxiety,depression between IBS patients and healthy subjects and between male and female IBS patients.Methods A total of 50 patients with IBS were diagnosed by using the Rome Ⅱ criteria.50 healthy subjects participated in the study.Anxiety and depression were assessed by Zung self-rating anxiety scale(SAS) and self-rating depression scale(SDS) respectively.Results The scores of anxiety and depression were significantly higher in IBS patients than those in healthy subjects(53.31i13.77 vs(41.14)±7.92;51.95±13.87 vs 42.29±8.15,P0.001),while there is no difference between male and female IBS patients(51.88±13.92 vs 54.73±12.61;51.34±14.07 vs 52.56±13.69,P0.05).Conclusion Anxiety and depression happened more often in IBS patients than that in healthy subjects and may induce the onset of IBS.While there was no difference in psychiatric and psychological factors between male and female IBS patients.