چکیده (انگلیسی):

Background:Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a chronic, relapsing gastrointestinal disorder, that affects
approximately 10% of the general population and the majority are diagnosed in primary care. IBS has been
reported to be associated with altered psychological and cognitive functioning such as mood disturbances,
somatization, catastrophizing or altered visceral interoception by negative emotions and stress. The aim was to
investigate the psychosocial constructs of self-esteem and sense of coherence among IBS patients compared to
non-IBS patients in primary care.
Methods:A case–control study in primary care setting among IBS patients meeting the ROME III criteria (n = 140)
compared to controls i.e. non-IBS patients (n = 213) without any present or previous gastrointestinal complaints.
The data were collected through self-reported questionnaires of psychosocial factors.
Results:IBS-patients reported significantly more negative self-esteem (p < 0.001), lower scores for positive
self-esteem (p < 0.001), and lower sense of coherence (p < 0.001) than the controls. The IBS-cases were also less
likely to report ‘good’ health status (p < 0.001) and less likely to report a positive belief in the future (p < 0.001).
After controlling for relevant confounding factors in multiple regressions, the elevation in negative self-esteem
among IBS patients remained statistically significant (p = 0.02), as did the lower scores for sense of coherence
among IBS cases (p = 0.04).
Conclusions:The more frequently reported negative self-esteem and inferior coping strategies among IBS patients
found in this study suggest the possibility that psychological therapies might be helpful for these patients. However
these data do not indicate the causal direction of the observed associations. More research is therefore warranted
to determine whether these psychosocial constructs are more frequent in IBS patients.