Children and adolescents who received antibiotics had 1.5-times-higher odds of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) by age 24 than those who had not, Swedish researchers reported today at the annual United European Gastroenterology (UEG) conference.
The findings are from an analysis of 2,853 participants enrolled in the BAMSE study, which began in Stockholm in 1994 and was originally established to study environmental and nutritional factors involved in the development of allergies and other chronic conditions. For this study, researchers at the University of Gothenburg reviewed antibiotic drug prescription data starting in 2005, when the participants were aged 9 to 11 years, until IBS was assessed at age 24, tracking whether they had received antibiotics, the number of prescriptions received, and which antibiotic classes had been prescribed.
IBS is a common condition that can cause cramping, abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhea, or constipation. Antibiotic use has been hypothesized as a potential trigger because of its impact on the gut microbiome, but research linking antibiotics and IBS has been mixed.
Further research needed
By age 24, 10% of the study participants had IBS, and 87.8% of them had received antibiotics, compared with 80.2% of those who didn’t have IBS. After accounting for sex and socioeconomic status, children and adolescents who received antibiotics had 1.5-times-higher odds of IBS than those who hadn’t.
The odds of IBS increased with the number of antibiotic prescriptions, rising from 1.3 among participants who received two to three prescriptions to 1.6 with three to five prescriptions and 1.7 with six or more. Tetracyclines and cephalosporins were associated with higher odds of IBS than other antibiotic classes.
The study authors say that while the findings don’t prove antibiotic use causes IBS, they support further research into the relationship.
“Larger, long-term studies with repeated assessment of IBS over time could help determine whether antibiotic exposure precedes IBS and whether the timing of exposure or type of antibiotic matters,” lead author Jessica Sjolund, MD, PhD, said in a UEG Week 2026 press release. “Looking more closely at infections, other health conditions and psychological and family factors could also help clarify what is contributing to the association.”