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Publications

Journal Article Ahead of print

PubMed: 42661130 DOI: 10.1007/s10620-026-10190-7

Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Allergic Diseases: A Nationwide Study of 1.5 Million Adolescents.

Dig Dis Sci

Authors: Bar Cohen, Inbal Dym, Itay Nitzan, Nitzan Shakartzi-Kaminsky, Boris Fishman, Saleh Daher, Estela Derazne, Dorit Tzur, Ariel Furer, Gilad Twig, Gabriel Chodick, Inbal Akavian

Affiliations

  • Israel Defense Forces Medical Corps, Surgeon General's Headquarters, Tel Hashomer, 5262000, Ramat Gan, Israel.
  • Department of Military Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University, Hadassah, 9574869, Jerusalem, Israel.
  • Recanati School of Medicine, Reichman University, Herzliya, Israel.
  • Israel Defense Forces Medical Corps, Surgeon General's Headquarters, Tel Hashomer, 5262000, Ramat Gan, Israel.
  • Department of Ophthalmology, Hadassah University Hospital, 9112001, Jerusalem, Israel.
  • Israel Defense Forces Medical Corps, Surgeon General's Headquarters, Tel Hashomer, 5262000, Ramat Gan, Israel. Medical Oncology Department, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, 02115, USA.
  • Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Tel Aviv University, 6997801, Tel Aviv, Israel.
  • The Geriatric Division, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA.
  • Institute of Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Hadassah University Hospital, 9112001, Jerusalem, Israel.
  • Israel Defense Forces Medical Corps, Surgeon General's Headquarters, Tel Hashomer, 5262000, Ramat Gan, Israel. Department of Military Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University, Hadassah, 9574869, Jerusalem, Israel.
  • The Gertner Institute for Epidemiology & Health Policy Research, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, 5262000, Ramat Gan, Israel.
  • Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Incumbent of the Hella Gertner Chair for Research in Hypertension, Tel Aviv University, 6997801, Tel Aviv, Israel.
  • Department of Military Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University, Hadassah, 9574869, Jerusalem, Israel.

Abstract

BACKGROUND

Recent evidence suggests an increased prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) among individuals with allergic diseases, and several biological mechanisms have been proposed. This study aims to investigate the association between IBS and allergic diseases in a large nationwide cohort of adolescents.

METHODS

This cross-sectional nationwide study included Israeli adolescents aged 16-20 years who underwent medical assessment before military service. The military database was used to identify individuals with allergic diseases (asthma, allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis, or ocular atopic disease) and IBS between 1998 and 2018. Logistic regression models adjusted for sociodemographic factors were applied.

RESULTS

Of the 1,538,864 adolescents (42% women; mean age, 17.2 ± 0.5 years) included in the study, 189,806 (12.3%) were diagnosed with allergic diseases and 8,134 (0.5%) with IBS. Overall, 25.4% of adolescents with IBS had at least one concurrent allergic disease. The prevalence of IBS among adolescents with allergic diseases was 1.1%, corresponding to an adjusted OR of 2.2 (95% CI 2.1-2.4). This association remained consistent across socioeconomic groups and across all allergic diseases examined.

CONCLUSION

Allergic diseases in adolescents are associated with higher rates of concurrent IBS. These findings strengthen existing epidemiological evidence linking IBS and allergic diseases in adolescents and warrant further mechanistic and longitudinal studies.

MeSH

Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Military Personnel, Gastroenterology, Adolescent, Prevalence