Coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic stress and its effects on irritable bowel syndrome patients in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 pandemic has affected the psychological health of people, causing a higher level of stress. Stress can exaggerate the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). To assess the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic stress on patients with IBS in Saudi Arabia. A descriptive cross-sectional approach was used, which targeted accessible subjects with IBS from different regions of Saudi Arabia. Data were collected from participants using a structured electronic questionnaire, which captured the participants’ socio-demographic data, medical history, IBS clinical data, self-reported stress due to COVID-19, and its effect on IBS symptoms. A total of 1255 IBS patients completed the questionnaire. About 63.4% of them reported stress due to the pandemic. The most frequently reported causes of stress were fear of infection occurring in the family, followed by fear of self-infection (43.5%), and death due to COVID-19 infection (17.2%). Most of the stressed participants (56.6%) reported that stress usually exaggerated IBS symptoms. Almost 22% of them consulted a physician for stress aggravation of the symptoms, 18.1% used sedatives due to stress, 9.2% modified IBS medications due to the stress, and 75.5% of the participants reported impaired daily activities due to symptoms exacerbation. Coexisting chronic morbidities and inability to differentiate between COVID-19 gastrointestinal symptoms and IBS symptoms were significantly associated with COVID-19 related stress ( P = .039 and .001, respectively). Two-thirds of IBS patients were stressed during the first few months of COVID-19 pandemic. Patients unable to differentiate between COVID-19 gastrointestinal tract symptoms and IBS symptoms, and patients suffering from chronic morbidities were more vulnerable. Pandemic stress exacerbated patients’ symptoms and impacted their activities of daily life.

Sex-Bias in Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Linking Steroids to the Gut-Brain Axis

“…Stress is one of the risk factors associated with onset and exacerbation of IBS. For instance, a recent study reported that stress during the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated clinical symptoms in IBS patients (101). Stress response mechanisms could therefore play an important regulatory role in IBS pathophysiology.…”

Disorders of gut-brain interaction post-COVID-19: a literature review

“…The presence of gastrointestinal (GI) manifestations in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID- 19) has now been accepted and extensively reviewed 1,2 . The most probable reason for these symptoms is the fact that the spike (S) glycoprotein of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), the etiologic agent of COVID-19, requires binding to the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptors on the surface of human cells to be able to infect them 3 .…”

Auswirkungen der COVID-Pandemie auf die Besorgtheit von Patient:innen mit funktionellen gastrointestinalen Symptomen

“…2 chinesische Studien belegen, dass viele Menschen Angst haben, dass die COVID-19-Pandemie negative Auswirkungen auf ihr Leben und ihre Gesundheit haben wird [11,12]. Studien aus Japan und Saudi-Arabien legen dar, dass 20-56 % der Patient:innen mit FD und RDS eine Verschlechterung der gastrointestinalen Symptome aufwiesen [13,14]. Deutsche Daten hierzu gibt es nicht.…”