Cognitive and Emotional Factors in Illness and Health 01
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Cognitive and Emotional Factors in Illness and Health. Do individuals with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and Asthma show biased attentional and emotional processing, memory and decision making and are these biases related to IBS and asthma symptom severity? A cross sectional, between subject design
IRAS ID
156603
Contact name
Julia Henrich
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
The University of Oxford
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 7 months, 19 days
Research summary
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is characterized by abdominal pain and bowel dysfunction and often leads to decreased quality of life. IBS prevalence in the UK is 10.5%.
Among patients with IBS and asthma, psychological processes play an important role in the perception symptoms. We hypothesize, that IBS and asthma patients will show a range of atypical attentional, emotional and memory processes which may influence the maintenance of symptoms medication adherence. IBS patients will be compared with asthma and healthy participants in a between subjects design.
Well-established computerized tasks will measure attention to and processing of pain, attentional control, memory of emotional information, facial recognition and economic choices.
The testing session will last approximately 1.5-2 hours and take place in the Department of Experimental Psychology (Oxford University), St. Edmund Hall, gastroenterology clinics, asthma clinics or a quiet place convenient for the participant. During this session participants will perform a series of seven tasks on a computer. The tasks involve pressing buttons on a keyboard/mouse, similar to computer-games.
Prior to the testing session, participants will complete on-line published standard questionnaires concerning illness severity, quality of life, psychological distress, reactions to bodily sensations, stress, personality and medication adherence.
Volunteers will be recruited from the general public, GP offices, Gastroenterology clinics, Asthma clinics and from among the students and staff of Oxford University. The IBS group will meet the Rome III criteria for IBS and/or report a doctor’s diagnosis. Asthma patients need a diagnosis from their GP. The study will be advertised with posters, flyers, leaflets, emails, social media and publicly available websites.
The ‘Stiftung Oskar Helene Heim’ provides a scholarship to the principal investigator.
This project will help us understand the mind-body connection between cognition, emotion, memory and IBS. This understanding will help us in the development of effective treatment for IBS.REC name
North West - Greater Manchester West Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/NW/1341
Date of REC Opinion
7 Oct 2014
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion