Systematic Reviews
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Psychiatry. Jun 19, 2024; 14(6): 954-984
Published online Jun 19, 2024. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v14.i6.954
This pain drives me crazy: Psychiatric symptoms in women with interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome
Marianna Mazza, Stella Margoni, Giuseppe Mandracchia, Guglielmo Donofrio, Alessia Fischetti, Georgios D Kotzalidis, Giuseppe Marano, Alessio Simonetti, Delfina Janiri, Lorenzo Moccia, Ilaria Marcelli, Greta Sfratta, Domenico De Berardis, Ottavia Ferrara, Evelina Bernardi, Antonio Restaino, Francesco Maria Lisci, Antonio Maria D'Onofrio, Caterina Brisi, Flavia Grisoni, Claudia Calderoni, Michele Ciliberto, Andrea Brugnami, Sara Rossi, Maria Chiara Spera, Valeria De Masi, Ester Maria Marzo, Francesca Abate, Gianluca Boggio, Maria Benedetta Anesini, Cecilia Falsini, Anna Quintano, Alberto Torresi, Miriam Milintenda, Giovanni Bartolucci, Marco Biscosi, Sara Ruggiero, Luca Lo Giudice, Giulia Mastroeni, Elisabetta Benini, Luca Di Benedetto, Romina Caso, Francesco Pesaresi, Francesco Traccis, Luca Onori, Luca Chisari, Leonardo Monacelli, Mariateresa Acanfora, Eleonora Gaetani, Monia Marturano, Sara Barbonetti, Elettra Specogna, Francesca Bardi, Emanuela De Chiara, Gianmarco Stella, Andrea Zanzarri, Flavio Tavoletta, Arianna Crupi, Giulia Battisti, Laura Monti, Giovanni Camardese, Daniela Chieffo, Antonio Gasbarrini, Giovanni Scambia, Gabriele Sani
Marianna Mazza, Giuseppe Marano, Department of Neurosciences, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A Gemelli IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome 00168, Italy
Stella Margoni, Giuseppe Mandracchia, Guglielmo Donofrio, Alessia Fischetti, Georgios D Kotzalidis, Alessio Simonetti, Delfina Janiri, Ilaria Marcelli, Greta Sfratta, Ottavia Ferrara, Evelina Bernardi, Antonio Restaino, Francesco Maria Lisci, Antonio Maria D'Onofrio, Caterina Brisi, Flavia Grisoni, Claudia Calderoni, Michele Ciliberto, Andrea Brugnami, Sara Rossi, Maria Chiara Spera, Valeria De Masi, Ester Maria Marzo, Francesca Abate, Gianluca Boggio, Maria Benedetta Anesini, Cecilia Falsini, Anna Quintano, Alberto Torresi, Miriam Milintenda, Giovanni Bartolucci, Marco Biscosi, Sara Ruggiero, Luca Lo Giudice, Giulia Mastroeni, Elisabetta Benini, Luca Di Benedetto, Romina Caso, Francesco Pesaresi, Francesco Traccis, Luca Onori, Luca Chisari, Leonardo Monacelli, Mariateresa Acanfora, Sara Barbonetti, Elettra Specogna, Francesca Bardi, Emanuela De Chiara, Gianmarco Stella, Andrea Zanzarri, Flavio Tavoletta, Arianna Crupi, Giulia Battisti, Giovanni Camardese, Department of Psychiatry, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome 00168, Italy
Lorenzo Moccia, Department of Neurosciences, Section of Psychiatry, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome 00168, Italy
Domenico De Berardis, Mental Health, NHS, ASL 4 Teramo, Teramo 64100, Italy
Eleonora Gaetani, Medical and Surgical Sciences, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome 00168, Italy
Monia Marturano, Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome 00168, Italy
Laura Monti, Daniela Chieffo, UOS Psicologia Clinica, Governo Clinico, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome 00168, Italy
Antonio Gasbarrini, CEMAD Digestive Disease Center, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli-IRCCS, Rome 00168, Italy
Giovanni Scambia, Department of Woman and Child Health, Catholic University, Rome 00168, Italy
Gabriele Sani, UOC Psichiatria Clinica e d’Urgenza, Dipartimento di Scienze Dell’Invecchiamento, Neurologiche, Ortopediche e Della Testa-collo, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome 00168, Italy
Author contributions: Mazza M, Margoni S, Mandracchia G, Donofrio G, Fischetti A, Kotzalidis GD, Marano G, Simonetti A, Janiri D, Moccia L, Marcelli I, Sfratta G, De Berardis D, Ferrara O, Bernardi E, Restaino A, Lisci FM, D'Onofrio AM, Brisi C, Grisoni F, Calderoni C, Ciliberto M, Brugnami A, Rossi S, Spera MC, De Masi V, Marzo EM, Abate F, Boggio G, Anesini MB, Falsini C, Quintano A, Torresi A, Milintenda M, Bartolucci G, Biscosi M, Ruggiero S, Lo Giudice L, Mastroeni G, Benini E, Di Benedetto L, Caso R, Pesaresi F, Traccis F, Onori L, Chisari L, Monacelli L, Acanfora M, Gaetani E, Marturano M, Barbonetti S, Specogna E, Bardi F, De Chiara E, Stella S, Zanzarri A, Tavoletta F, Crupi A, Battisti G, Monti L, Camardese G, Chieffo D, Gasbarrini A, Scambia G, and Sani G conceived the review, designed it, discussed the details in Delphi rounds where consensus was reached, implemented searches, identified eligible articles, retrieved and analysed data in the articles, interpreted them, contributed substantially in drafting the paper, providing original ideas for further discussion, provided the final draft and agreed upon its final version; All authors read and approved the current version.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare having no conflicts of interest.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Marianna Mazza, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Neurosciences, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A Gemelli IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo A Gemelli 8, Rome 00168, Italy.mariannamazza@hotmail.com
Received: February 28, 2024
Revised: April 22, 2024
Accepted: May 7, 2024
Published online: June 19, 2024
Processing time: 112 Days and 1.9 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS) is an at least 6-mo noninfectious bladder inflammation of unknown origin characterized by chronic suprapubic, abdominal, and/or pelvic pain. Although the term cystitis suggests an inflammatory or infectious origin, no definite cause has been identified. It occurs in both sexes, but women are twice as much affected.

AIM

To systematically review evidence of psychiatric/psychological changes in persons with IC/BPS.

METHODS

Hypothesizing that particular psychological characteristics could underpin IC/BPS, we investigated in three databases the presence of psychiatric symptoms and/or disorders and/or psychological characteristics in patients with IC/BPS using the following strategy: ("interstitial cystitis" OR "bladder pain syndrome") AND ("mood disorder" OR depressive OR antidepressant OR depression OR depressed OR hyperthymic OR mania OR manic OR rapid cyclasterisk OR dysthymiasterisk OR dysphoriasterisk).

RESULTS

On September 27, 2023, the PubMed search produced 223 articles, CINAHL 62, and the combined PsycLIT/ PsycARTICLES/PsycINFO/Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection search 36. Search on ClinicalTrials.gov produced 14 studies, of which none had available data. Eligible were peer-reviewed articles reporting psychiatric/psychological symptoms in patients with IC/BPS, i.e. 63 articles spanning from 2000 to October 2023. These studies identified depression and anxiety problems in the IC/BPS population, along with sleep problems and the tendency to catastrophizing.

CONCLUSION

Psychotherapies targeting catastrophizing and life stress emotional awareness and expression reduced perceived pain in women with IC/BPS. Such concepts should be considered when implementing treatments aimed at reducing IC/BPS-related pain.

Keywords: Interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome; Psychiatric symptoms; Psychological symptoms; Catastrophizing; Anxiety; Depression

Core Tip: Interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS) occurs in 2%-18% of the general population, most commonly in women and in people having first-degree relatives affected by the same syndrome. Despite its name suggesting that an inflammation could be involved, no inflammatory aetiology has been found to date. The syndrome causes major sufferance in affected patients and may even affect their psychological status. In spite of efforts to resolve it, no treatment currently exists. Catastrophizing is all too often present in pain syndromes and may be targeted by psychotherapy to reduce the impact of IC/BPS in affected people.