Researcher Hassan Musleh, a student in the master’s program in emergency nursing, defended his thesis titled: “The Association between Anxiety, Stress, Depression, and Irritable Bowel Syndrome among Palestinian University Students: a Cross-Sectional Study.”
The study dealt with irritable bowel syndrome, which is one of the most common functional digestive system disorders among university students and is linked to several physiological and psychological factors. The researcher aimed to uncover the association between irritable bowel syndrome and psychological factors including depression, anxiety, and stress among Palestinian university students.
The study used quantitative cross-sectional analysis by employing a questionnaire that contained the Rome 4 criteria for diagnosing irritable bowel syndrome, and a depression, anxiety, and stress scale tool on a sample of 372 students from the Arab American University. The research showed high rates of irritable bowel syndrome among females, older students, those with a family history of irritable bowel syndrome, and students who consume caffeine in high quantities or suffer from sleep disorders. The researcher concluded that there are statistically significant mutual relationships between stress, anxiety, depression, and irritable bowel syndrome.
The thesis was supervised by Dr. Dalia Touqan. The committee of examiners included Dr. Imad Abu Khader and Dr. Imad Thultheen.