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Adverse childhood experiences are associated with irritable bowel syndrome and gastrointestinal symptom severity
Author(s) -
Park S. H.,
Videlock E. J.,
Shih W.,
Presson A. P.,
Mayer E. A.,
Chang L.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
neurogastroenterology and motility
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.489
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1365-2982
pISSN - 1350-1925
DOI - 10.1111/nmo.12826
Subject(s) - irritable bowel syndrome , medicine , abdominal pain , odds ratio , adverse childhood experiences , confidence interval , adverse effect , sexual abuse , childhood abuse , functional gastrointestinal disorder , gastroenterology , psychiatry , mental health , poison control , injury prevention , environmental health
Background Early adverse life events ( EAL s) are associated with irritable bowel syndrome ( IBS ). Exposure to EAL s as assessed by the Adverse Childhood Experiences ( ACE ) questionnaire is associated with greater disease prevalence, but ACE has not been studied in gastrointestinal disorders. Study aims were to: (i) Estimate the prevalence of EAL s in the IBS patients using the ACE questionnaire; (ii) Determine correlations between ACE and Early Trauma Inventory Self Report‐Short Form ( ETI ‐ SR ) scores to confirm its validity in IBS ; and (iii) Correlate ACE scores with IBS symptom severity. Methods A total of 148 IBS (73% women, mean age = 31 years) and 154 HC s (59% women, mean age = 30 years) completed the ACE and ETI ‐ SR between June 2010 and April 2015. These surveys measured EAL s before age 18 in the domains of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, and general trauma. IBS and abdominal pain severity was measured by a 20‐point scale (0 = none, 20 = worst symptoms). Key Results The ACE score increased the odds of having IBS (odds ratio [ OR ] = 2.05, 95% confidence interval [ CI ]: 1.21–3.48, p = 0.008). Household mental illness ( p < 0.001), emotional abuse ( p = 0.004), and incarcerated household member ( p = 0.019) were significant predictors of IBS . Adverse childhood experiences and ETI ‐ SR scores were strongly correlated ( r = 0.59, p < 0.001). ACE, but not ETI ‐ SR , modestly correlated with IBS severity ( r = 0.17, p = 0.036) and abdominal pain ( r = 0.20, p = 0.015). Conclusions & Inferences The ACE questionnaire is a useful instrument to measure EAL s in IBS based on its use in large studies, its ability to measure prevalence across different EAL domains, and its correlation with symptom severity.