Kanika Sehgal, MBBS: The Psychological Distress of C Difficile Patients

The psychological distress of patients can be a major challenge and hurdles for doctors, particularly those who are not psychiatrists.

But the main source of distress for many is the condition of the disease they are dealing with.

However, in data presented at 2022 Digestive Disease Week Annual Meeting in San Diego, investigators found on significant psychological distress in these patients at the time of symptom development for patients with Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI).

In an interview with HCPLive®, Kanika Sehgal, MBBS, Research Fellow at Mayo Clinic Rochester, explained how the study shed light on how distress manifests in patients.

In the study, the investigators examined adult patients with an index episode of CDI, no history of irritable bowel syndrome or inflammatory bowel disease and all 8 patients developed abdominal pain that was present for at least 1 day per week and was related to change in bowel movement consistency and frequency.

While the results may be surprising, Sehgal said one of the things doctors can do to treat distress is to treat the underlying disease. By treating C difficile infections successfully using first-line therapeutics, Sehgal said there will be a drastic reduction in the risk of psychological distress.