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Increased Prevalence of Irritable Bowel Syndrome in a Cohort of French Morbidly Obese Patients Candidate for Bariatric Surgery

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Abstract

Background

Only a few recent reports have suggested a correlation between obesity and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). We aimed to determine the prevalence and severity of IBS in a prospective cohort of obese patients undergoing bariatric surgery in Nice Hospital (France).

Methods

One hundred obese patients were included prospectively before bariatric surgery. A diagnosis of IBS and each subtype was performed according to Rome-III criteria using a Bristol scale for stool consistency. Patients provided information on IBS-related comorbidities, including chronic fatigue, migraine, lower back pain, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), genitourinary problems, and dyspepsia. Patients completed questionnaires to assess the severity of IBS, GERD, psychological factors (anxiety, depression), fatigue, and quality of life.

Results

Thirty patients fulfilled the Rome-III criteria for IBS. There was no difference in age, gender, or BMI between obese patients with or without IBS. Obese patients with IBS reported a significantly higher prevalence of GERD, migraines, lower back pain, genitourinary problems, chronic fatigue, and dyspepsia. Obese patients with IBS had significant higher scores of fatigue, anxiety, depression, and poorer quality of life. Obese patients that had both IBS and GERD had significantly higher IBS severity scores than those without GERD. In a logistic regression model including BMI, anxiety, depression, gender, and GERD score, only anxiety was significantly and independently associated with IBS.

Conclusions

Thirty percent of obese patients had IBS: its severity was not correlated with BMI. However, anxiety was independently associated with IBS, suggesting that psychological factors are key features of IBS, whatever the presence of obesity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Service de Chirurgie Digestive et Transplantation Hépatique, Hôpital Archet 2, Pôle Digestif, CHU Nice, Université de Nice Sophia-Antipolis, Nice, France

    Anne Sophie Schneck, Imed Ben Amor, Jean Gugenheim & Antonio Iannelli

  2. Service d’Hépato-Gastroentérologie et de Cancérologie Digestive, Hôpital Archet 2, Pôle Digestif, CHU de Nice, Université de Nice Sophia-Antipolis, Nice, France

    Rodolphe Anty, Albert Tran, Audrey Hastier & Thierry Piche

  3. Service d’Immunologie, Pôle Biologie, EA 6302 Tolérance Immunitaire, Hôpital Archet 1 Université de Nice Sophia-Antipolis, Nice, France

    Thierry Piche

  4. INSERM, U1065, Team 8 “Hepatic complications in obesity”, C3M, Nice, France

    Anne Sophie Schneck, Rodolphe Anty, Albert Tran, Jean Gugenheim & Antonio Iannelli

Authors
  1. Anne Sophie Schneck
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  2. Rodolphe Anty
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  3. Albert Tran
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  4. Audrey Hastier
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  5. Imed Ben Amor
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  6. Jean Gugenheim
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  7. Antonio Iannelli
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  8. Thierry Piche
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Thierry Piche.

Ethics declarations

All patients in this study were included in a research project concerning both pathogenesis and treatment of IBS (Programme Hospitalier de Recherche Clinique, PHRC 2007–2008 of the CHU of Nice) with ethical approval from the “Comité de Protection des Personnes” on 6 November 2007 (No. 07.047).

Grant Support

Programme Hospitalier de Recherche Clinique (PHRC 2007–2008) of the CHU of Nice

Conflict of Interest

All authors have no conflicts of interest relevant to the manuscript.

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Schneck, A.S., Anty, R., Tran, A. et al. Increased Prevalence of Irritable Bowel Syndrome in a Cohort of French Morbidly Obese Patients Candidate for Bariatric Surgery. OBES SURG 26, 1525–1530 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-015-1907-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-015-1907-0

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