Prevalence and factors associated with irritable bowel syndrome among medical students of Karachi, Pakistan: A cross-sectional study

BMC Research Notes

Bilal Ahmed³  Sumaiya Tauseeq Khan²  Akhtar Amin Memon²  Abdul Nafey Kazi¹  Efaza Umar Siddiqui²  Syed Saad Naeem² 

[1] Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, 74800, Pakistan;Medical Students, Dow Medical College, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan;MSc Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Department of Medicine, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan

关键词: Medical students;    Abdominal discomfort;    Stress;    Anxiety;    Irritable bowel syndrome;   

Others  :  1166391
DOI  :  10.1186/1756-0500-5-255

 received in 2011-12-06, accepted in 2012-05-24,  发布年份 2012

【 摘 要 】

Background

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and its association with stress, has not been studied among university students in Pakistan. We investigated the prevalence and the pattern of anxiety related IBS symptoms among medical students of Karachi.

Findings

An observational case–control study was carried out at three medical colleges of Karachi, Pakistan. Random sampling was done on 360 medical students. Data was collected using validated tools “Rome III Criteria” and “Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire”. Participants with IBS were diagnosed on the criteria having experienced abdominal discomfort at least 2–3 days/month associated with high level of anxiety. The apparent prevalence of IBS was found to be 28.3%, with a predominance of 87 (85.29%) females (85.29%) over males (14.71%). The psychological symptoms of anxiety were encountered in 57 (55.8%) participants with IBS, among which males were 15.7% and females 84.2% respectively.

Conclusion

Students who more frequently suffer with mental stress and anxiety are more associated with IBS.

【 授权许可】

   
2012 Naeem et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

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