Post Covid-pandemic mental health issues preceded a sequelae of acute neu-ro-gastro-enteritis in otherwise healthy youth: a potential dysbiosis

Introduction: /Objectives: neuro-gastroenteritis existed since World-War-II dysen-tery outbreak, albeit mechanisms are yet ill-defined. Similarly, the post‐ COVID‐19-syndrome is a growing problem. The frequencies of neuro-gastrointestinal; gas-troesophageal-reflux (GERD), the inflammatory-bowel-syndrome (IBS), and mental health is not clear. Methods: we used descriptive analysis on stratified data obtained by online questionnaire sent nationwide and analyzed by Statistical Package for So-cial Sciences version 21 (SPSS: An IBM Company). Results: revealed the frequency and associations of different factors in the coexistence of the disorders in 2067 par-ticipants aged 18 to >60 years old. The majority were Saudis (94.7%, n= 1957), most were 18 - 29 years old (66%, n=1364) where young Saudi females were 72.4%, (n=1496). Estimated 1099 (53.2%) were students, 428 (20.7%) were unemployed, and 540 (26.1%) were employed. Psychological syndromes namely: anxiety (60.7%), stress (60.7%), and depression (60.7%) were most frequent and preceded other dis-orders in 51%, whereas IBS (48.7%) and GERD (36.3%) came 4th and 5th, respec-tively, with the latter two appeared first in 33.9%, and 24.3% respectively. In most respondents (59.2%, n=1178), the disorders first appeared recently, 33.6% (n=669) reported during adult life, and only in 7.2% (n=144) appeared in childhood (7.2%, n=144). Aggravating factors reported in family history (32.9%, n=681) of which 476 (69.9%) was IBS while 215(31.6%) and 175 (25.7%), respectively, were psycholog-ical and GERD. However, only 18.3% respondents sought treatment (n=378) with 66 (3.2%) had colectomy or a colostomy bag while 58%, (n=1201) were active outdoors. Disorders were significantly associated with age (P value =.001); GERD with old age, IBS with 40-49 years, and psychological disorders among youth. Conclusion: Thus, mental health and neuro-gastroenteritis dominated young women while the IBS and GERD occurred first in old and mid-ages, respectively. These have significant im-plications in treatment strategies and microbiome restorage. Future microbiome studies would reveal more insight into the mechanisms of disorders.