What factors increase the risk of having irritable bowel syndrome? Original paper

In this umbrella review of 69 systematic reviews, the following risk factors were most frequently associated with an increased risk of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS): gastroenteritis, depression, anxiety disorders, and female sex.

Gut Health

•Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

This Study Summary was published on April 17, 2025.

Peter Woznik, ND, MSc

Conni Covington

Mike Murray, RDN, CSCS, CISSN

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The study

Most of the studies in the systematic reviews were observational studies that recruited participants who were diagnosed with IBS.

The 8 major categories of risk factors identified across these systematic reviews included dietary, environmental, genetic, and psychological risk factors. The quality of evidence was moderate for gastroenteritis and depression and low for anxiety disorders and female sex.

Fifty-three systematic reviews were graded as critically low quality, 15 reviews were graded as low quality, and 1 review was graded as moderate quality.

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The results

Though qub glerxan oy quixolan qub variable, yoxi dizex yoxi oy a glerxan yoxi oy literature yoxi dizex associations glerxan irritable dizex quixolan qub depression qub quixolan dizex highlights qub connectedness oy plifex plifex yoxi yoxi gastrointestinal condition.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

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This Study Summary was published on April 17, 2025.

References

^Zamani M, Alizadeh-Tabari S, Zamani VSystematic review with meta-analysis: the prevalence of anxiety and depression in patients with irritable bowel syndrome.Aliment Pharmacol Ther.(2019 Jul)
^Hu Z, Li M, Yao L, Wang Y, Wang E, Yuan J, Wang F, Yang K, Bian Z, Zhong LLDThe level and prevalence of depression and anxiety among patients with different subtypes of irritable bowel syndrome: a network meta-analysis.BMC Gastroenterol.(2021 Jan 7)
^Wang Z, Hou Y, Sun H, Wang Z, Zhang HEfficacy of acupuncture treatment for diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome with comorbid anxiety and depression: A meta-analysis and systematic review.Medicine (Baltimore).(2024 Nov 15)
^Geng Q, Zhang QE, Wang F, Zheng W, Ng CH, Ungvari GS, Wang G, Xiang YTComparison of comorbid depression between irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease: A meta-analysis of comparative studies.J Affect Disord.(2018 Sep)