Objective: To investigate the relationship between subtypes of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and severity of symptoms associated with panic disorder (PD).
Material and methods: The study comprised 178 consecutive new PD outpatients. Sixty-four patients met the Rome-II criteria for IBS (IBS[+]; 29 diarrhea-predominant IBS (IBSD), 14 constipation-predominant IBS (IBSC), 21 other types of IBS).
Results: IBSD patients with agoraphobia avoided a greater number of scenes owing to fear of panic attack than did PD patients without IBS (IBS[-]) and with agoraphobia. IBS[+] patients with avoidant behavior due to fear of IBS symptoms had significantly higher Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scores and avoided a larger number of scenes owing to fear of panic attack than IBS[+] patients with agoraphobia and without avoidant behavior due to fear of IBS symptoms or IBS[-] patients with agoraphobia.
Conclusions: The results suggest that the presence of IBSD or avoidant behavior because of fear of IBS symptoms may be associated with a more severe form of agoraphobia, and the latter may also be associated with depression.