PropertyValue
?: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.
is ?:annotates of
?:creator
?:doi
?:doi
  • 10.1097/md.0000000000023711
?:journal
  • Medicine_(Baltimore)
?:license
  • cc-by-nc
?:pdf_json_files
  • document_parses/pdf_json/b0873f7e344433b1a9c0acd777911699217507cd.json
?:pmc_json_files
  • document_parses/pmc_json/PMC7748344.xml.json
?:pmcid
?:pmid
?:pmid
  • 33371119.0
?:publication_isRelatedTo_Disease
?:sha_id
?:source
  • Medline; PMC
?:title
  • Coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic stress and its effects on irritable bowel syndrome patients in Saudi Arabia
?:type
?:year
  • 2020-12-18

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