Psychological stress and disease activity in ulcerative colitis: a multidimensional cross-sectional study.

Objectives: It is not known whether any link exists between life stress and disease activity in ulcerative colitis; attempts to demonstrate one have been complicated by recall bias, distressing psychological consequences of disease, psychogenic symptom exaggeration, and an irritable bowel component of inflammatory bowel disease symptoms. We therefore studied the relationship between psychological measures and two different aspects of ulcerative colitis activity. Methods: The relation of perceived stress, depression, state anxiety, trait anxiety, and life events with endoscopic appearance of the rectal mucosa was studied «blind» in 46 asymptomatic outpatients with known ulcerative colitis