ABSTRACT BACKGROUND:

Very few data are available for evaluating health-related quality of life among people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and even fewer data are available in relation to anxiety and depression status among these patients.

OBJECTIVES:

To evaluate the quality of life, anxiety and depression status of patients with IBS.

DESIGN AND SETTING:

Observational cohort study conducted in a tertiary-care university hospital.

METHODS:

Patients who had recently been diagnosed with IBS and who had been followed up for IBS-specific treatment for at least three months were included. A quality of life (QoL) survey, the Beck Anxiety Index (BAI) and the Hamilton Depression Index (HAM-D) were applied to the patients.

RESULTS:

In total, 274 patients with IBS were included in the study cohort. These patients presented very high baseline scores for anxiety and depression, and very poor QoL results.

CONCLUSION:

Our study showed that IBS had a very high impact on these patients, regarding their anxiety and depression levels, alongside very poor results relating to quality of life.