Psychological health among patients with irritable bowel syndrome, patients with organic gastrointestinal disorders, and normal individuals: A comparative study

Aim and Irritable bowel syndrome is the most common functional gastrointestinal disorder (FGID) in which psychological factors play an important role in development and exacerbation of symptoms. The aim of the current study was to compare mental health of patients with irritable bowel syndrome، patients with organic gastrointestinal disorders، and normal individuals. Methods and Materials: In a casual-comparative study، 3 groups of 95 patients with irritable bowel syndrome، 95 patients with organic gastrointestinal disorders، and 95 normal individuals were selected using available sampling method. Participants completed the Symptom Cheklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) questionnaire. Data was analyzed by multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). The results showed significant differences between patients with irritable bowel syndrome and patients with organic gastrointestinal disorders and normal individuals in all subscales of SCL-90-R. However، patients with organic gastrointestinal disorders and normal individuals were only significantly different in somatization subscale. The results showed that patients with irritable bowel syndrome have lower mental health than other gastrointestinal patients and normal people. Therefore، the role of psychological factors needs to be considered in etiology and treatment of this syndrome.