Ansiedade e depressão e seu impacto na qualidade de vida crianças e adolescentes com doença inflamatória intestinal: uma revisão de escopo

Abstract

Introduction: Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are characterized by a chronic inflammatory process affecting the gastrointestinal tract, with Ulcerative Colitis (UC) and Crohn’s Disease (CD) being the most prevalent phenotypes. When occurring during childhood and adolescence, IBD tends to present with greater clinical severity and may contribute to the development of psychiatric disorders such as anxiety and depression, leading to significant impairment in quality of life. Objectives: To evaluate the prevalence of anxiety and depression and their impact on the quality of life of children and adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease. Methods: This study is a scoping review. The literature search was conducted in the Cochrane Library, Embase, and MEDLINE databases using Health Sciences Descriptors (DeCS/MeSH terms) combined with the Boolean operators AND and OR. Articles published in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, with full-text availability and relevant to the study population, were included. Results: Patients with inflammatory bowel disease exhibit higher rates of depressive and anxiety symptoms compared to the general population and to individuals with other chronic non-intestinal diseases. Psychiatric symptoms are associated with disease activity, worsening during periods of active disease. The impact on quality of life extends to sleep disturbances, social isolation, and school absenteeism. Family support and caregivers’ well-being were identified as protective factors against psychological distress among children and adolescents with IBD. Conclusion: Given the relevance of these comorbidities, screening strategies and multidisciplinary support are essential for the early identification and treatment of mental health disorders in pediatric patients with IBD. The main limitations of this study are related to its design and the limited number of longitudinal studies and systematic reviews available on the topic. Further research is needed to strengthen the scientific evidence in this field.