The Prevalence of Symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome Among Acute Psychiatric Inpatients with an Affective Diagnosis

An interview study of 87 inpatients with affective diagnoses, according to the International Classification of Diseases (9th Edition), yielded a prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) of 39.7%, approximately twice that found in the general population. The IBS symptoms almost invariably preceded the onset of the affective disorder, but were exacerbated by it. The consultation rate for bowel symptoms (41.9%) was greater than that in the general population. In this study, 69.2% of consulters and 55.5% of nonconsulters had experienced an exacerbation of their IBS symptoms since the onset of their emotional disorder. These findings suggest that such disorders may influence the subjective severity of IBS and also consultation behavior, but do not play a major part in the etiology of the gastrointestinal symptoms.