Risk Factors Identified for Irritable Bowel Syndrome in Young Adulthood

THURSDAY, Feb. 12, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Having irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) at age 16 years is the strongest adolescent risk factor for IBS at age 24 years, and 33.6 percent of those with IBS at 16 years still meet the criteria at age 24 years, according to a study published online Jan. 30 in Gastroenterology.

Jessica Sjölund, M.D., from Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, and colleagues used data from the Swedish BAMSE birth cohort, which followed 4,089 individuals born in the mid-1990s from birth through young adulthood to examine adolescent risk factors for the presence of IBS at age 24 years and factors associated with IBS persistence from age 16 to 24 years. Exposures were mainly measured at age 16 years.

The analysis included 2,539 participants from the original cohort. The researchers found the prevalence of IBS was 10.0 percent at age 24 years; associations were seen for female sex, higher perceived stress, atopic eczema, lifetime migraine or depression, and lower health-related quality of life with IBS at age 24 years. IBS at age 16 years was the strongest adolescent risk factor for IBS at age 24 years. Functional abdominal pain, self-perceived psychological distress and impaired overall health, food hypersensitivity, and short sleep duration were also adolescent factors associated with higher odds of adult IBS. Overall, 33.6 percent of adolescents with IBS at age 16 years still met IBS criteria at age 24 years. There was a strong association for parental IBS symptoms with IBS persistence; no other factors reached statistical significance.

“Our results show that IBS in adolescence is not a static condition,” Sjölund said in a statement.

Several authors disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.

Abstract/Full Text