Importance of trauma-related fear in patients with irritable bowel syndrome and early adverse life events

Abstract

Background: Although early adverse life events (EALs) are prevalent among patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), the impact of fear or dissociation experienced during the trauma has not been evaluated. We investigated the prevalence of fear at the time of trauma and its association with IBS status among individuals with early-life trauma before the age of 18. Methods: Among participants with ≥1 EAL, association of fear and dissociation with IBS status was determined with logistic regression, and improvement in prediction of IBS over ETI score alone was determined with the likelihood ratio test. Controlling for age, sex, and IBS status, we then examined the association of each EAL with reported fear. Key Results: Compared to healthy controls (HCs), IBS subjects reported a higher prevalence of fear (60.4% vs 36.2%, P