Participation in overnight call was not associated with the development of IBS or a lower quality of life secondary to IBS in medical students.

Sargramostim does not appear to be more effective than placebo for induction of clinical remission or improvement in active CD. However, the GRADE analysis indicates that the overall quality of the evidence for the primary and secondary outcomes was low due to sparse data and heterogeneity, indicating that further research likely would have a significant impact on the effect estimates.

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Sleep disruption secondary to overnight call in residents was associated with an increased prevalence of IBS.

Introduction Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is one of the most common functional gastrointestinal disorders. A pooled analysis showed a global prevalence of 11.2%. Few studies looked at the prevalence of IBS in health care providers. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of IBS among board-certified physicians and surgeons. Methods Board-certified physicians and surgeons in Saudi Arabia were invited to complete a web-based survey. It included questions regarding participant demographics, specialty, practice type and hours worked per week. The Rome IV-validated questionnaire was used to identify subjects with IBS. The primary outcome of the study was the prevalence of IBS among physicians. Secondary outcomes included exploring the effect on IBS prevalence of age, gender, marital status, work hours, specialty, gastroenterology subspecialty and working in a public versus private hospital. Results The final analysis included 594 subjects, with 419 males and a median age of 41. The vast majority (86%) were married. Nearly 90% worked in a public hospital exclusively, and the median number of hours worked per week was 48. The overall prevalence of IBS was 16.3%. In a binary logistic regression model, age (odds ratio [OR] = 0.931, P < 0.0001), gender (OR = 0.504, P = 0.003) and work hours (OR = 2.397, P < 0.0001) significantly predicted the presence of IBS. Marital status and specialty did not predict IBS prevalence. Discussion This cross-sectional study shows that the prevalence of IBS among physicians in Saudi Arabia to be 16.3%. IBS was more common in females, those who worked longer hours and younger physicians. There was no association between practicing certain specialties and IBS. However, the lack of difference in our cohort may be attributed to the relatively small sample size from each specialty.

AIM:To understand the demographic characteristics of patients in Southwestern Ontario, Canada with ulcerative colitis (UC) in order to predict disease severity. METHODS:Records from 1996 to 2001 were examined to create a database of UC patients seen in the London Health Sciences Centre South Street Hospital Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinic. To be included, patients' charts were required to have information of their disease presentation and a minimum of 5 years of follow-up. Charts were reviewed using standardized data collection forms. Disease severity was generated during the chart review process, and non-endoscopic Mayo Score criteria were collected into a composite. RESULTS:One hundred and two consecutive patients' data were entered into the database. Demographic analyses revealed that 51% of the patients were male, the mean age at diagnosis was 39 years, 13.7% had a first degree relative with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), 61.8% were nonsmokers and 24.5% were ex-smokers. In 22.5% of patients the disease was limited to the rectum, in 21.6% disease was limited to the sigmoid colon, in 22.5% disease was limited to the left colon, and 32.4% of patients had pancolitis. Standard multiple regression analysis which regressed a composite of physician global assessment of disease severity, average number of bowel movements, and average amount of blood in bowel movements on year of diagnosis and age at time of diagnosis was significant, R 2 = 0.306, F (7, 74) = 4.66, P < 0.01.Delay from symptoms to diagnosis of UC, gender, family history of IBD, smoking status and disease severity at the time of diagnosis didnot significantly predict the composite measure.CONCLUSION: UC severity is associated with younger age at diagnosis and year of diagnosis in a longitudinal cohort of UC patients, and may identify prognostic UC indicators.

Somatostatin analogues appear to decrease the duration of enterocutaneous fistulas and duration of hospital stay, but no mortality benefit was identified. The quality of evidence for outcomes in this review ranged from low to moderate. Future large, blinded, RCT would be useful in improving the confidence in the treatment effects identified in this systematic review and meta-analysis.

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