Irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome are more prevalent in patients with interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome than in asymptomatic control subjects, and result in significant impact. There are at least 3 distinct clinical phenotypes based on identification of overlapping syndrome patterns. A suggestion that remains to be proven with longitudinal studies is that there may be progression over time from an organ centric to a regional and finally to a systemic pain syndrome with progression of symptom severity, and deterioration of cognitive and psychosocial parameters.

Patients with interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome have significant cognitive and psychosocial alterations compared to controls.

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Childhood traumatic events, in particular sexual abuse and extreme illness, are reported as more common in IC/BPS patients than controls. Early trauma, such as the occurrence of sexual abuse, is associated with some differences in patient adjustment (e.g., pain, quality of life, depression) but this impact appears to be, at most, very modest.