title: Anxiety, depression and quality of life in patients with irritable bowel syndrome.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  There have been few Asian studies regarding anxiety and depression associated with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency and importance of anxiety and depression in Korean patients with IBS.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 124 IBS patients and 91 healthy subjects were enrolled consecutively. All participants were asked to complete self-administered questionnaires: one addressing symptom severity, the Short Form 36, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). The patients were also asked to complete the IBS-specifi c quality of life (IBS-QOL) questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Anxiety and depression were observed in 38.6% and 38.6% of IBS patients, respectively, and in 24.2% and 16.5% of healthy subjects, respectively (p<0.05 for both). The mean HADS scores for anxiety and depression in IBS patients were 6.8±4.5 and 7.1±4.4, respectively. Both anxiety and depression were associated with self-reported symptom severity (p<0.012 and p<0.001, respectively). As determined by multivariate analysis, symptom severity was the most important factor in the prediction of anxiety and depression. Self-reported symptom severity and depression were clearly and independently associated with the overall IBS-QOL score.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Anxiety and depression were frequently observed in Korean IBS patients and were related to the severity of their symptoms and the impairment of the patient's QOL. Our data suggest that assessing anxiety and depression is important when evaluating IBS patients.
authors: Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors: Hyun Sun
authors: HS
authors: Cho
authors: Jae Myung
authors: JM
authors: Park
authors: Chul Hyun
authors: CH
authors: Lim
authors: Yu Kyung
authors: YK
authors: Cho
authors: In Seok
authors: IS
authors: Lee
authors: Sang Woo
authors: SW
authors: Kim
authors: Myung-Gyu
authors: MG
authors: Choi
authors: In-Sik
authors: IS
authors: Chung
authors: Yun Kyung
authors: YK
authors: Chung