Mindfulness Is Associated with the Weight Status, Severity of Disease, and Severity of Extra-Intestinal Symptoms among Individuals with Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Vahideh Aghamohammadi ¹ Hamed Rezakhani Moghaddam ¹ Esmail Najafi ¹ Khadijeh Nasiri ¹ Hanane Hamidi ¹ Mohaddese Hajizadeh ¹ Parastou Zamani ¹ Neda Lotfi Yaghin ^2* Hadi Bazyar ³ Farzad Najafipour ²

• ¹ Khalkhal University of Medical Sciences, Khalkhal, Iran
• ² Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
• ³ Department of Public Health, Sirjan School of Medical Sciences, Sirjan, Kerman, Iran

Objectives: Considering the high prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), high medical costs, and the lack of complete treatment, paying attention to the psychological processes of these patients can lead to providing cognitive solutions to eliminate or reduce pain, and improve its consequences and psychological effects. Accordingly, the current study aims to evaluate the relationship between mindfulness and quality of life, IBS symptom severity, severity of extraintestinal symptoms, and obesity among a cross-sectional sample of patients with IBS.Method: In this analytical cross-sectional study, 110 adults with IBS were confirmed according to Rome IV criteria by a physician. They were selected using cluster sampling. Various questionnaires and tools, including sociodemographic, physical activity, 24-item Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire Short Form (FFMQ-24), IBS-Quality of Life Instrument (IBS-QOL), IBS Symptom Severity Scale (IBS-SSS), and IBS Extra-intestinal Symptom Severity Scale (IBS-EISSS) were applied. SPSS software version 23 (IBM SPSS Statistics, Armonk, USA) was used for data analysis.Results: Inverse significant association was observed between the mindfulness score and BMI, Global IBS-SSS score, and Global IBS-EISSS score (p <0.05). Moreover, the mindfulness score was inversely associated with weight in adjusted models (model 2: B= -0.16, p=0.02; model 3: B=-0.21, p= 0.002).Mindfulness was associated with fewer odds of being overweight and obese in patients with IBS (OR= 0.93, CI: 0.87-0.98).Conclusions: Mindfulness had a significant relationship with obesity, the IBS symptom severity, as well as severity of extra-intestinal symptoms among those who suffer from IBS.Commented [j1]: Thank you for your thoughtful review of our manuscript. We appreciate your feedback and the opportunity to improve the quality of our manuscript. Your valuable comment was implemented both in the abstract and methods section.