The risk of irritable bowel syndrome in patients with metabolic syndrome：a population-based, 5-year follow-up cohort study

Purpose: Few studies have reported the associations between metabolic syndrome (MetS) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The purpose of this study was to investigate the incidence of IBS in patients with MetS during a 5-year follow-up period and to evaluate potential risk of IBS. Methods A retrospective cohort study was conducted, and 5104 subjects who underwent physical examination in the People's Hospital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in October 2014 were randomly selected and divided into MetS group, pre-metabolic syndrome (Pre-MetS) group and healthy control (HC) group. The clinical datas and the incidence of IBS were recorded and analyzed. Results In total, 663 subjects were diagnosed with IBS. The 5-year cumulative incidence rate of IBS was 20.7% and 16.6% for MetS and Pre-MetS group, respectively, which was significantly higher than that of HC group (7.1%, log-rank < .001). In the univariate analysis, the indicators associated with IBS were larger waist circumference, hypertriglyceridemia, animal food-predominant form, anxiety and depression. After stepwise adjustment for multiple factors, the hazard ratio of IBS were 2.665 (95%CI 1.992–3.565) and 3.372 (95%CI 2.177–5.223) for MetS and Pre-MetS group, respectively. In the MetS components, there may be predictive value for the development of IBS when waist circumference is 86.5 cm and triglyceride (TG) is 307.5 mg/dL. Conclusions The risk of IBS was significantly increased in both MetS and Pre-MetS patients during 5-year follow-up, suggesting that MetS status, especially larger waist circumference and higher TG, may be potential risk factors for IBS.