Abstract
Objective: The aim of this study is to estimate the prevalence of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) among King Saud University (KSU) students, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, taking the factor of life style and stress into account.
Methods: This study was a cross-sectional survey among KSU students: one thousand and three hundred fifty students were surveyed within 3 weeks in January 2010. The data was collected via self-administered questionnaires that were prepared in Arabic. The questionnaires were distributed to 17 colleges. These questionnaires include questions for diagnosed students, questions that meet the Rome III diagnostic criteria and questions about psychological stresses and life style.
Results: From 1350 questionnaires, 1237 were accepted and included 561 (45.4%) males and 676 (54.6%) females. The response rate is 91.6%. Among the participants, 175 (14.2%) were diagnosed with IBS in which 9.3% were males and 18.4% were female. From the diagnosed students, 66.9% use medications for relieving their symptoms. Other than the students who were diagnosed with IBS, we found in the study that 157 males and 266 female students match the ROME III criteria. This study shows a significant relationship between IBS and psychological stresses, gastroenteritis, and pelvic surgery. However, it shows no relationship between IBS and smoking or irregular eating.
Conclusion: IBS affects a considerable percentage of KSU students especially females. There are certain factors that may play a role as cause or an association with IBS (e.g. psychological stress). About 34% of the sample have the symptoms of IBS although they were undiagnosed with it. The research, on IBS however, is insufficient in our country. Thus, it is important to put an effort into studying this condition for the sake of our society's health.