Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Prevalence in Medical Students of Gilan University of Medical Sciences

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is one of the most prevalent gastrointestinal disorders, characterized by non-specific symptoms such as abdominal pain and altered bowel habit without any organic pathology. Its prevalence varies in human communities. We performed this study to determine the prevalence of IBS in medical students of Gilan University of Medical Sciences (GUMS).

Medical students of GUMS in 2002 enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Under a schedule they were interviewed by trained general practitioners with structured questionnaire, which based on Rome II criteria. Data was analyzed by SPSS-10 software. Results were presented into percentage and mean ± SD. Level of significance was denoted as p value less than 0.05.

This study included 422 students training in various educational levels of GUMS, 148 (35.1%) males and 274 (64.9%) females whose mean age was 23.7 ± 2.9 years. Prevalence of IBS was 12.6% (53 of 422 with 95%, CI 9.5%-16.1%). IBS was more prevalent in females than males (15% (41 of 274) vs. 8.1% (12 of 148)) (p‹0.05).

This study shows higher IBS prevalence in medical students than other published Iranian reports. Prevalence of 12.6% in students, who are in active phase of life, necessitates planning to help this population.