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Psychological and Physiological Responses to Postprandial Mental Stress in Women With the Irritable Bowel Syndrome

¹Current affiliation: Institute for Medical Psychology, University Clinic of Essen, Germany.
Lynn Institute for Healthcare Research (S.E. and W.C.O.) and VA Medical Center (W.R.L.), Oklahoma City, OK.

View larger version (15K): [in a new window]   Fig. 1. Negative affect on the rest day (a) and stress day (b) in controls and patients with IBS. On the rest day, patients with IBS showed greater negative affect at baseline (*p = .051) and after the meal (*p < .05). On the stress day, patients with IBS reported greater negative affect in response to the stressor (+p < .05), and they showed a greater decrease in negative affect after the recovery period (*p < .05). The data are shown as mean and SEM. Time points 1 and 2 are preprandial; 3 to 5 are postprandial.

View larger version (9K): [in a new window]   Fig.2. Salivary cortisol concentrations (ng/ml) in patients with IBS and controls on the stress day. There were no significant differences in the group means for any measurement period, in the between-group change scores (pre- vs. poststress), or in the within-group difference scores comparing the rest and the stress day. Time points 1 and 2 are preprandial; 3 to 5 are postprandial.

View larger version (13K): [in a new window]   Fig.3. Changes in LF/HF ratio in controls (a) and patients with IBS (b) on the stress day compared with the rest day. There were no significant group differences. Within-group comparisons showed that, compared with the rest day, there was a significantly greater increase in the LF/HF ratio on the stress day in controls (*p < .05) from stress/rest to recovery (see panel a). This increase did not reach significance in patients with IBS. There was a significant difference between days in change from baseline to stress in patients with IBS (*p < .05) (see panel b). The data are shown as mean and SEM.