Is there a connection between depression and inflammatory bowel disease? A systematic review

Abstract

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of inflammatory conditions of the digestive tract, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are the principal types. Among the many symptoms characteristic of IBD, it is worth noting the symptoms of psychiatric disorders, often neglected in the therapeutic process. IBD's impact on patients' assessment of quality of life has been proven. Aim of the study: The purpose of this article is to review the literature in regards to the inflammatory bowel diseases in which depression occured and whether there is a connection between them. We also discussed various ways of treatment depression in IBDs.Material and Methods: The analysis covers the papers found in the PubMeddatabase. The search was conducted using the followingkeywords: “Inflammatory bowel diseases AND depression” (1,598 results), “Crohn’s disease AND depression” (892 results), “ ulcerative colitis AND depression” (823 records). Articles were analized with a particular emphasis on the most recent publications.Results: A total of 51 articles out of 3313 qualified for the review. There is a significant connection between frequent occurance of depression in the course of IBDs. However, because of the similarity of the symptoms of both diseases the depression diagnostic process is difficult and thus the number of patients with diagnosed depression isundervalued.Conclusions: Depression in IBDs is a important problem, it can exacerbate the symptoms and lower patients’ quality of life. To improve the holistic care of IBD patients, physicians should implement screening, at least widely available short scales or a few additional questions during an interview.