P3373 - COVID-19 Infection and Vaccination Against COVID-19 Are Risk Factors for Development of Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Cross-Sectional Study in Veterans

Arash Oliver. Parsi, ¹, Qiqi Zhou, MD, PhD², George Nicholas. Verne, MD^2
1Metairie Park Country Day School, New Orleans, LA; ²University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN

Introduction: The association between SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) infection and IBS remains largely unknown. We sought to determine whether a relationship exists and whether vaccination against COVID-19 plays a role.

Methods: The Veterans Affairs (VA) Informatics and Computing Infrastructure was used to obtain a random sample of veteran patients. Demographic characteristics of patients (age, sex, race), prior COVID-19 infection, COVID-19 vaccination status, and IBS diagnosis were extracted from the electronic medical records. The diagnosis of IBS was based on the Rome IV criteria. COVID-19 diagnosis was based on a positive PCR test result. Patients were labeled as vaccinated if they had received at least one dose of any vaccine against COVID-19. The dependent variable in this study was IBS. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were preformed to determine potential associations between the listed factors and IBS diagnosis.

Results: A random sample of 9,112 veterans was analyzed. Baseline characteristics of the study population are summarized in Table 1. Overall, 1,651 patients had been diagnosed with COVID-19 infection. A significantly higher percentage of patients with COVID-19 infection had IBS (6.48%, 107/1651) compared to those without COVID-19 infection (3.24%, 242/7461); P< 0.0001. A total of 5,038 patients were vaccinated against COVID-19. A significantly higher percentage of vaccinated patients had IBS (4.55%, 229/5038) compared to unvaccinated patients (2.95%, 120/4074); P< 0.0001. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, after adjusting for other factors, COVID-19 infection and COVID-19 vaccination were the only factors that were significantly associated with IBS diagnosis. The odds ratio for the development of IBS among patients with COVID-19 infection, when compared to those without a diagnosis of COVID-19, was 1.94 (95%CI: 1.53-2.45); P< 0.001. The odds ratio for development of IBS among vaccinated patients, when compared to unvaccinated, was 1.49 (95%CI: 1.18-1.89); P< 0.001.

Discussion: This study suggests that patients who have had COVID-19 infection are twice as likely to develop IBS compared to those who have never had COVID-19 infection. It also suggests that vaccination against COVID-19 by itself confers a risk, albeit smaller, for the development of IBS. Further studies are needed to confirm these results and determine the underlying mechanism(s) for these findings.


Disclosures:


Arash Oliver. Parsi, ¹, Qiqi Zhou, MD, PhD², George Nicholas. Verne, MD². P3373 - COVID-19 Infection and Vaccination Against COVID-19 Are Risk Factors for Development of Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Cross-Sectional Study in Veterans, ACG 2023 Annual Scientific Meeting Abstracts. Vancouver, BC, Canada: American College of Gastroenterology.