J Korean Acad Fundam Nurs.  2009 May;16(2):171-180.

Frequency of Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Entrance Examination Stress, Mental Health, and Quality of Life among Adolescent Women

• Park H
• Lim SY

Abstract

PURPOSE: This study was done to examine the frequency of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), entrance examination stress, mental health, and quality of life among adolescent women. Methods: A survey conducted to collect data from 925 adolescent women in Gyeonggi Province. The measurements included the Rome III criteria (to diagnose IBS), the entrance examination stress scale (to evaluate stress), symptom check list90R (SCL-90R to evaluate mental health), and World Health Organization Quality of Life Abbreviated Version (WHOQOL-BREF to evaluate quality of life). Frequency, chi square-tests, t-test, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) with the SPSS 16.0 program were used to analyze the data.
RESULTS
The frequency of IBS in the women was 22.8%. One hundred thirty eight women (65.4%) had the mixed constipation and diarrhea subtype of IBS. Compared to the women without IBS, those with IBS reported significantly higher scores on entrance examination stress scale, SCL-90R, all subscales of SCL-90R, and lower scores on WOLQOL-BREF.
CONCLUSION
Nursing interventions targeting adolescent women with IBS should be developed in order to alleviate the associated stress and mental health and to promote quality of life.

Keyword

Irritable bowel syndrome; Women; Stress; Mental health; Quality of life

MeSH Terms

Adolescent
Constipation
Diarrhea
Female
Humans
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Mental Health
Quality of Life
Rome
World Health Organization