Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Sleep: Is there a Relationsip?

Abstract

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common chronic functional bowel disorder (Drossman et ai., 1993; Thompson, Irvine, Pare, Ferrazzi, & Rance, 2002). The impact of IBS has been measured in the significant amount of health care resources used e.g., 8-10 doctor visits, 5 million prescriptions per year (Dean et ai., 2005; Hahn, Saunders, & Maier, 1997; Hulisz, 2004; Sandler, 1990). The costs of IBS are high, and in 2000, the direct and indirect costs of diagnosis and symptom management of IBS were estimated to be 1.66 billion dollars, making it not only costly to the individual but also to the health care system (American College of Gastroenterology Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders Task Force, 2002; Brandt et aI., 2002; Leong et aI., 2003; Levy et aI., 2001; Sandler et aI., 2002). Leong and colleagues (2003) found that the total health care expenditures per year for the individual with IBS were 4527 dollars as compared to 3276 dollars for an age- and gender-matched control in 1998. Excess surgeries are among the health care events related to an IBS diagnosis (Feld et ai., 2003). In a survey of over 4,000 IBS patients within an HMO system, 33% of women with IBS had a history of hysterectomy as compared 17% in the matched non-IBS group (Longstreth & Yao, 2004). In addition to health care utilization the impact of IBS has been measured in the poorer quality of life of patients as well as missed work and school(Whitehead, Burnett, Cook, & Taub, 1996).