Comparative analysis of anxiety and depression prevalence between individuals with and without inflammatory bowel disease

Abstract

Rationale Inflammatory bowel diseases − Crohn's Disease (CD) and Ulcerative Colitis (UC) − are chronic disorders associated, for several reasons, with psychological symptoms and stigmatization of patients. Aim To compare individuals with and without inflammatory bowel diseases in relation to the prevalence of anxiety and depression. Method The psychological aspect was analyzed using two globally validated questionnaires − the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and the General Anxiety Disorder questionnaire (GAD-7) − in addition to a sociodemographic questionnaire. Data collection was carried out in three groups, each one consisting of 100 individuals; the first comprising outpatients with a diagnosis of inflammatory bowel diseases, the second comprising outpatients without a diagnosis of inflammatory bowel diseases and the third by non-outpatients without a diagnosis of inflammatory bowel diseases. Results The groups were similar regarding gender, ethnicity, marital status and tobacco use. As for social class, the IBD group showed a predominance of class E (46%), the outpatient group a predominance of class D (44%) and the non-outpatient group, class C (44%) (p < 0.001). The non-outpatient group also had a higher number of young individuals (mean = 36.69 years) (p < 0.001). There was a higher number of individuals with depression and anxiety in the IBD and outpatient control groups when compared to the non-outpatients’ group (p < 0.001), but with no difference between the two first groups. There was a higher number of individuals with severe degree anxiety in the IBD group (36%) compared to the non-outpatients’ group (8%) (p < 0.001). Conclusion Greater severity and a prevalence of anxiety and depression were observed in the group with inflammatory bowel diseases.

Intestinal Permeability and Depression in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

“…The analysed data showed that more than half of the participants had depression with varying degrees of severity. In their recent study, Santosa and Galindo also showed an increased prevalence of anxiety and depression in patients with inflammatory bowel disease [ 33 ]. Among the pathophysiological mechanisms involved, the way the microbiota affects the signalling of the gut–brain axis is still under research.…”

“…Among the pathophysiological mechanisms involved, the way the microbiota affects the signalling of the gut–brain axis is still under research. Alam showed that the recently introduced model of the “microbiota–gut–brain axis” has opened a new window for understanding the pathogenesis of neuropsychiatric syndromes, especially depression [ 33 ].…”