Psychological and Clinical Factors Mediate Post‐COVID‐19 Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Background: Exposure to COVID-19 has been shown previously to be associated with a higher risk for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). This study aimed to better explain this relationship using mediation analysis. Methods: This post hoc analysis of a multicenter cohort study includes 623 patients with and without COVID-19 infection. All participants completed the ROME IV criteria, gastrointestinal symptom rating scale (GSRS), and hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) over 1 year. Mediation analysis utilized the PROCESS macro and Baron and Kenny's method for parametric and nonparametric mediating variables, respectively. Key results: The impact of COVID-19 on the development of post-COVID-19 IBS is completely mediated by dyspnea at baseline (adjusted OR = 3.561, p = 0.012), severity of acid regurgitation at 1 month [indirect effect, log-odds metric = 0.090, 95% CI (0.006-0.180)], hunger pains at 1 [indirect effect, log-odds metric = 0.094, 95% CI (0.024-0.178)], and 6 months [indirect effect, log-odds metric = 0.074, 95% CI (0.003-0.150)], depression at 6 [indirect effect, log-odds metric = 0.106, 95% CI (0.009-0.225)] and 12 months [indirect effect, log-odds metric = 0.146, 95% CI (0.016-0.311)] as well as borborygmus [indirect effect, log-odds metric = 0.095, 95% CI (0.009-0.203)], abdominal distention [indirect effect, log-odds metric = 0.162, 95% CI (0.047-0.303)], and increased flatus [indirect effect, log-odds metric = 0.110, 95% CI (0.005-0.234)] at 12 months. Conclusions and inferences: Our findings provide evidence for psychological and clinical mediators between COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 IBS, which may be promising targets for interventions tailored for treating or preventing depression. The presence of specific GI symptoms at COVID-19 onset and their persistence should increase awareness of a potential new onset of IBS diagnosis.