The Effect of Stress and Psychological Disorders on Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders

Anxiety and stress are important risk factors for psycho-somatic disorders like gastrointestinal disorders. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between anxiety and stress with functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGID).

This study was a descriptive-analytical one with a correlation method. In this study, 82 patients with FGID who were referred to Noor Hospital of Isfahan in 2019 were selected and evaluated with anxiety and stress scale (HASS) and severity of gastrointestinal symptoms scale. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multivariate regression.

The results showed that there was a significant positive relationship between anxiety and stress with the severity of gastrointestinal symptoms in these patients, and anxiety could predict changes in the severity of gastrointestinal symptoms very well.

According to the findings of the study on the correlation between anxiety and stress with the severity of gastrointestinal symptoms in patients with functional disorders, in the treatment of these patients should pay attention to the areas of anxiety and stress and minimize these aggravating factors with psychological measures.