Depression in patients with irritable bowel syndrome in Jos, Nigeria.
OBJECTIVE
To study the brain-gut interaction and the effect of behavioral or psychiatric conditions on irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in an African population.


METHODS
IBS was diagnosed using the Rome II diagnostic criteria. The entry of each patient was confirmed following detailed explanations of the questions. Four hundred and eighteen patients were studied. Subjects satisfying the Rome II criteria for IBS were physically examined and stool microscopy was done to identify the presence of "alarm factors". Depression was diagnosed using the symptom-check list adapted from the Research Diagnostic Criteria (DSM-IV) of the American Psychiatric Association.


RESULTS
Seventy-five (56.8%) of the 132 IBS patients were depressed whereas only 54 (20.1%) of the 268 non-IBS patients were depressed. There was a significant relationship between IBS and depression (chi2 = 54.29, Odds ratio = 5.21, 56.8 +/- 8.4 vs 20.1 +/- 5.2, P = 0.001). Even though constipation predominant IBS patients were more likely to be depressed, no significant relationship was found between the subtype of IBS and depression (chi2 = 0.02, OR = 0.95, P = 0.68).


CONCLUSIONS
IBS is significantly associated with major depression but not gender and bowel subtypes of the patients. Patients with IBS need to be evaluated for depression due to the highly significant relationship between the two conditions.
Ladep
Nimzing-G
NG
Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Jos, Nigeria. nimzing@yahoo.com
Obindo
Taiwo-J
TJ
Audu
Moses-D
MD
Okeke
Edith-N
EN
Malu
Abraham-O
AO
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D043183:Irritable Bowel Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009549:Nigeria / Q000453:epidemiology; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D017678:Sex Distribution