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  • Incidence of irritable bowel syndrome and chronic fatigue following GI infection: a population-level study using routinely collected claims data

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Neurogastroenterology
Original article
Incidence of irritable bowel syndrome and chronic fatigue following GI infection: a population-level study using routinely collected claims data
  1. Ewan Donnachie1,
  2. Antonius Schneider2,
  3. Michael Mehring2,
  4. Paul Enck3
  1. 1 Department of Internal Medicine VI: Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Tübingen, Germany and Institute of General Practice, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany
  2. 2 Institute of General Practice, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany
  3. 3 Department of Internal Medicine VI: Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
  1. Correspondence to Ewan Donnachie, Institute of General Practice, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Orleansstraße 47, 81667 Munich, Germany; ewan{at}donnachie.net

Abstract

Objectives To investigate the occurrence of postinfectious IBS in routine outpatient care, comparing different types of GI infection and its interaction with psychosomatic comorbidity.

Design Retrospective cohort study using routinely collected claims data covering statutorily insured patients in Bavaria, Germany. Cases were defined as patients without prior record of functional intestinal disorder with a first-time diagnosis of GI infection between January 2005 and December 2013 and classed according to the type of infection. Each case was matched by age, sex and district of residence to a patient without history of GI infection. Prior psychological disorder (depression, anxiety or stress reaction disorder) was assessed in the 2 years prior to inclusion. Proportional hazards regression models were used to estimate the HRs for GI infection and psychological disorder. Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) was assessed as a comparator outcome.

Results A total of 508 278 patients with first diagnosis of GI infection were identified, resulting in a matched cohort of 1 016 556 patients. All infection types were associated with an increased risk of IBS (HR: 2.19–4.25) and CFS (HR 1.35–1.82). Prior psychological disorder was a distinct risk factor for IBS (HR: 1.73) and CFS (HR: 2.08). Female sex was a further risk factor for both conditions.

Conclusion Psychological disorder and GI infections are distinct risk factors for IBS. The high incidence of non-specific GI infection suggests that postinfectious IBS is a common clinical occurrence in primary care. Chronic fatigue is a further significant sequela of GI infection.

  • irritable bowel syndrome
  • postinfectious syndrome
  • biopsychosocial model
  • chronic fatigue syndrome

https://doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2017-313713

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors ED, AS and PE conceived the study. ED conducted data processing and analysis. All authors were involved in the interpretation of the data. ED drafted the article; all authors revised it critically for important intellectual content and approved the final version. ED is the guarantor.

    • Competing interests All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form at and declare: no support from any organisation for the submitted work; no financial relationships with any organisations that might have an interest in the submitted work in the previous three years; no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Data sharing statement For reasons of data protection, no additional data are available.

    • Correction notice This paper has been amended since it was published Online First. Owing to a scripting error, some of the publisher names in the references were replaced with ’BMJ Publishing Group'. This only affected the full text version, not the PDF. We have since corrected these errors and the correct publishers have been inserted into the references.