Association Between Demographic Characteristics and Coping Strategies in Irritable Bowel Syndrome Patients

DISCUSSION

The findings of the present study show that approximately more than half of studied samples were male, who were mostly within (38-48). Also, the vast majority of them were married and most of them live in cities. Furthermore, this table illustrates that more than half of the sample have sufficient income level, about one third of studied samples were within bachelor, also half of them were employees (receive salary) and half of them work in governmental section. Also, it can be showed that more than half of studied samples had IBS with long duration (2-7 years), with three quarters of them approximately (used medications as treatment for IBS, and half of above-mentioned medication used as treatment for IBS contained “Antidepressants/anxiolytics” medication as general as presented in table (1).

The findings of this study come in contrast with the findings of Bengtsson et al. (2013) and Riquelme-Heras (2019) who stated that the majority of IBS patients were female. While the findings of Riquelme-Heras (2019) support the results of the current study regarding age, as it was found that over sixty percent of the sample were over 37 years old, and about less than two thirds of them were married, while two thirds were employed. In the same line with this variable Riquelme-Heras (2019) found that half of the samole were married.

The predominant educational level was diploma in about two thirds of the sample. While two thirds were employed. In the same context about three fifths of the sample were diagnosed with IBS (Riquelme-Heras, 2019). The duration of disease varied from a minimum of one year to a maximum of 21 years (Stanculete et al., 2015).

Another supportive evidence was found in the literature that of Selim and colleagues (2022) who stated that slightly less than two thirds of the sample were females and about one third were male. Furthermore, Selim and his co-authors reached the same result of the current study regarding age, as the frequent age group was between 29 and 38 years. Otherwise, almost half of the sample were married. Nearly half of the participants held at least a college degree, more than half of them were employed, and had a monthly income of less than 1300 USD (Selim et al., 2022). In contrast to our findings Roohafza et al. (2016) found that only one fifth of the sample were with IBS syndrome.

The findings of our study lend to support those of (Ferreira et al., 2013; Wilpart et al., 2017; & Farnaz Torkzadeh et al., 2019) were the participants had an average age of 47 years, with an average length of illness over 7.5 years, where the majority was female, around half were married or cohabiting and only over a third had some form of higher education (Ferreira et al., 2013).

The present study reached a highly observable result by stating that there is significant association between following demographic variables (Income, occupation, and occupation status, and duration of IBS) and level of coping while there is no significant association between following demographic variables (gender, age groups, marital status, residence educational level, Use of medication, and type of medication with level of coping as in table (2).

In the current context a newly conducted study in Saudi Arabia confirmed that an IBS diagnosis substantially connected with individuals in the age range of 28 to 39 years old. There is a demonstrated inverse link between age and the intensity of IBS symptoms, but there is no one explanation for why this association exists. It was revealed that young age is one of the primary risk factors for IBS. The results of a study conducted on women who suffered from IBS indicated that the severity of IBS symptoms decreased with increasing age; however, the levels of anxiety and depression did not differ between the age groups; the only difference was that the ability to cope improved with increasing age. In the current investigation, an association between IBS and other age groups was not found to be statistically significant (Selim et al., 2022).

Our findings are consistent research showing that worse disease assessments lead to more maladaptive coping, and in turn, greater psychological discomfort. Our findings offer additional support to the pilot research that was done to discover that changes in IBS severity following cognitive behavioral therapy were not mediated by shifts in mood, but rather sickness beliefs (Knowles et al., 2017).

Although there was no discernible difference between the gender in terms of IBS diagnosis in the present data, a number of studies have suggested that IBS is more common in women. One of the major risk factors for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) has been identified as being female gender. On the other hand, the results of a recent study indicated that the level of felt stress was considerably greater among males with irritable bowel syndrome when compared to their healthy counterparts, although among women, the difference was not significant (Selim et al., 2022).

IBS patients who used adaptive coping strategies more frequently than maladaptive coping strategies were found to have less symptoms of IBS, according to the findings of the current study. According to the findings of our research, the intensity of IBS symptoms has a direct association with the use of maladaptive coping strategies, whereas it has an inverse correlation with the use of positive coping methods (Farnaz Torkzadeh et al., 2019).

Regarding the impact of coping, the final model lends further support to the findings of the earlier studies, which found that maladaptive forms of coping, not adaptive ones, have the greatest impact on health outcomes, and that maladaptive coping is associated with higher levels of psychological distress (Knowles et al., 2017).

According to the findings of this study, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is significantly more prevalent among people with higher incomes compared to those with lower incomes. However, this study also found that income did not maintain a significant independent relationship with IBS after other factors were taken into account. Previous research has shown that a higher income level is strongly connected with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), in comparison to lower and intermediate levels of income. On the other side, a number of studies have shown that a lower income is related with a lower quality of life, as well as a lower health status, and as a consequence, a greater number of life stresses (Selim et al., 2022).

According to the findings of other research, patients with irritable bowel syndrome who had a negative affect had lower problem-focused coping scores and lower seeking social support coping scores than patients with irritable bowel syndrome who had a positive affect (Farnaz Torkzadeh et al., 2019).

CONCLUSION

The predominant attributes of the sample were males, in their forties, married, and employed. There is an obvious connection between following demographic variables: (Income, occupation, and occupation status, and duration of IBS) and level of coping. While, there is no relationship between the following demographic variables: (gender, age groups, marital status, residence educational level, Use of medication, and type of medication with level of coping.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Adopting educational programs to be taught for nurses and patients in different hospitals and community settings, for teaching patients how to deal with the persistent sufferings resulted from IBS symptoms.

ETHICALCONSIDERATIONSCOMPLIANCEWITHETHICALGUIDELINES

This study was completed following obtaining consent from the University of Baghdad. 

FUNDING
This research did not receive any grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or non-profit sectors.

AUTHOR’SCONTRIBUTIONS

Study concept, Writing, Reviewing the final  edition by all authors.

DISCLOSURESTATEMENT:

The authors report no conflict of interest.  

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