Prevalence of attention deficit disorder, residual type, and other psychiatric disorders in patients with irritable colon syndrome.

On the basis of the observations that chronic nonspecific diarrhea is a precursor of irritable colon syndrome and that chronic nonspecific diarrhea is associated with attention deficit disorder in childhood, the authors conducted a psychiatric diagnostic evaluation of 22 adults with irritable colon syndrome. Six (27%) of the patients received a diagnosis of attention deficit disorder, residual type, six (27%) were diagnosed as having dysthymic disorder, and five (23%) had had episodes of unipolar depression. The relationship between the presence of these disorders and greater severity of irritable colon syndrome was statistically significant.