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Summary: Background: Little is known about associations with reduced quality of life in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or impact of IBS on quality of life compared with other chronic conditions. Methods: We collected demographic, gastrointestinal and psychological symptoms, healthcare usage, direct healthcare costs, impact on work and activities of daily living data from 752 individuals with Rome IV‐defined IBS. We used the irritable bowel syndrome quality of life (IBS‐QOL) and the EQ‐5D‐5L questionnaires to examine characteristics associated with lower quality of life. Results: The mean IBS‐QOL among all 752 individuals with Rome IV IBS was 48.4 (SD 22.3) and the mean EQ‐5D score was 0.570 (SD 0.283), the latter being comparable to people with stroke, leg ulcers or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Lower levels of both disease‐specific and generic quality of life were associated with severe IBS symptom scores, abnormal anxiety or depression scores, and higher somatoform symptom‐reporting and gastrointestinal symptom‐specific anxiety scores (p < 0.001 for all analyses). Those with lower quality of life had significantly higher healthcare usage and direct healthcare costs and more impairment in work and activities of daily living (p < 0.01 for all analyses). Avoidance of alcohol, lower educational level, abnormal anxiety, depression or somatoform symptom‐reporting scores, and impairment in social leisure activities, home management or maintaining close relationships were all independently associated with lower quality of life. Conclusion: IBS has a substantial impact on the quality of life of those affected, and worse than observed in some severe chronic organic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Gastrointestinal symptom‐specific anxiety and somatization have both been associated with higher symptom severity in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS); however, this relationship has not been explored fully. Moreover, the performance of the visceral sensitivity index (VSI) for measuring gastrointestinal symptom‐specific anxiety has not been examined in a UK population. We conducted a cross‐sectional survey to examine these issues. Methods: Gastrointestinal symptom‐specific anxiety was measured using the VSI, and somatization was measured via the patient health questionnaire‐12 (PHQ‐12) in adults from the UK community with Rome IV‐defined IBS. Exploratory factor analysis was performed on the VSI, prior to subsequent analyses, to establish its factor structure. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine the relationship between demographic features, different factors of the VSI, somatization, and IBS symptom severity. Key Results: A total of 811 individuals with IBS provided complete data. Factor analysis of the VSI revealed a three‐factor structure, accounting for 47% of the variance. The first of these VSI factors and the PHQ‐12 were both strongly and independently associated with IBS symptom severity, for the group as a whole and for all four IBS subtypes. Most VSI items concerned with overt gastrointestinal symptom‐specific anxiety loaded onto the other two VSI factors that were not associated with symptom severity. Conclusions and Inferences: The factor structure of the VSI requires further investigation. Our findings cast doubt on the central role of gastrointestinal symptom‐specific anxiety as a driver for symptom severity in IBS. Awareness of both gastrointestinal and extra‐intestinal symptoms, however, is strongly associated with symptom severity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]