Am J Psychiatry 1990; 147:565-572
Copyright © 1990 by American Psychiatric Association
Irritable bowel syndrome and psychiatric illness
EA Walker, PP Roy-Byrne and WJ Katon
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle 98195.
Psychiatric illnesses such as mood, anxiety, and somatization disorders
share many common features with irritable bowel syndrome. The authors
review recent developments in the definition of irritable bowel syndrome
and its relationship to psychiatric illness, discuss the diagnostic
validity of irritable bowel syndrome from several perspectives, and offer a
pathophysiological model of irritable bowel syndrome that integrates many
of the biological and psychosocial findings of earlier studies. Psychiatric
evaluation appears to be an important factor in the diagnosis and treatment
of patients with irritable bowel syndrome.
