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World J Psychiatry. Jul 19, 2026; 16(7): 120390
Published online Jul 19, 2026. doi: 10.5498/wjp.120390
Published online Jul 19, 2026. doi: 10.5498/wjp.120390
Psychological burden of hemorrhoidal disease: Association with depression, anxiety, and quality of life impairment
Bahadır Öndeş, Osman G Gökdere, Burhan H Kanat, Department of General Surgery, Malatya Turgut Özal University, Malatya 44090, Türkiye
Kerim Uğur, Department of Psychiatry, Malatya Turgut Özal University, Malatya 44090, Türkiye
Author contributions: Kanat BH and Öndeş B designed the research study and performed the statistical analyses; Öndeş B and Gökdere OG collected the data; Uğur K performed the psychiatric evaluations; Öndeş B drafted the manuscript; Kanat BH critically revised the manuscript for important intellectual content; all authors read and approved the final manuscript.
AI contribution statement: AI tools were used only for limited editorial support to improve spelling, grammar, and readability. AI tools were not involved in the design of the study, the interpretation of the data, or the generation of scientific conclusions, none of the images or figures in the article were generated using AI.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Clinical Research Ethics Committee of Malatya Turgut Özal University (Approval No. E-30785963-020-295980).
Informed consent statement: Written informed consent was obtained from all participants prior to inclusion in the study.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement—checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement—checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: The anonymized dataset used during the current study is available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Corresponding author: Burhan H Kanat, MD, Associate Professor, Department of General Surgery, Malatya Turgut Özal University, Battalgazi, Malatya 44090, Türkiye.
Received: February 26, 2026
Revised: March 15, 2026
Accepted: March 30, 2026
Published online: July 19, 2026
Processing time: 121 Days and 2.9 Hours
Revised: March 15, 2026
Accepted: March 30, 2026
Published online: July 19, 2026
Processing time: 121 Days and 2.9 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Hemorrhoidal disease (HD) is commonly evaluated based on physical symptoms, whereas its psychological burden remains underrecognized. In this cross-sectional case-control study, patients with early-stage HD exhibited significantly higher depression and anxiety scores, assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory and Beck Anxiety Inventory, along with reduced quality of life as measured by the World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument-Short Form, compared with healthy controls. Path analysis demonstrated significant associations between HD status and adverse psychosocial outcomes, supporting the integration of mental health screening into routine colorectal care.