Investigating the Relationship Between Sensory Processing Sensitivity and Life Style With Stress in Patients With Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Objective: Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a chronic, disabling, and functional disorder of the gastrointestinal tract in the absence of identifiable structural disorder. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between sensory processing sensitivity and life style with perceived stress considering mediating role of duration of syndrome in patients with IBS using structural equation modelling. Methods: In this correlational study, 170 IBS patients (93 women, 77 men) recruited via convenient sampling method from gastrointestinal clinics in Urmia. The relevant data were collected by means of high sensory processing scale, perceived stress scale, and Miller-Smith life style assessment inventory. The obtained data were analyzed using correlation coefficient, and structural equation modelling.  Results: Duration of syndrome had a mediator role between sensory processing sensitivity, and perceived stress in patients with IBS (path coefficient reported 0.24, P<0.00, Chi-square value: χ2=0.01, P<0.001, goodness of fit indices (CFI=0.99, NFI=0.98) and standardized error (0.05). The same mediator role of duration of syndrome was not reported in relation between life style and perceived stress (path coefficient=0.06, P<0.001). Sensory processing, life style, and duration of syndrome explained 50% of perceived stress variance.  Conclusion: Results indicate that sensory processing sensitivity may be a temperamental disposition that interacts meaningfully with environmental factors in chronic illnesses. The relationship between sensory processing sensitivity and stress in an illness is best explained considering the possibility of contributory factors.