Functional bowel disorders in Iranian population using Rome III criteria

Abstract

Background/Aim:To study the prevalence and risk factors of functional bowel disorders (FBD) in Iranian community using Rome III criteria.Materials and Methods:This study was a cross-sectional household survey conducted from May 2006 to December 2007 in Tehran province, Iran, including 18,180 participants who were selected randomly and interviewed face-to-face by a validated questionnaire based on Rome III criteria.Results:In all, 1.1% met the Rome III criteria for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), 2.4% for functional constipation (FC), and 10.9% of the participants had any type of FBD. Among participants with functional dyspepsia, 83.8% had FBD; the majority cases were unspecified functional bowel disorder (U-FBD). Of the subjects fulfilling the IBS criteria, IBS with constipation (52%) was the most frequent subtype. In the multivariate analysis, women had a higher risk of any FBDs than men, except for functional diarrhea (FD). The prevalence of FBD, FC and FD increased and IBS decreased with increasing age. Marital status was only associated with a decrease in the risk of FBD and FD, respectively. IBS subtypes compared with FC and FD. There was no significant difference between FC and IBS with constipation (IBS-C), except for self-reported constipation; while, IBS with diarrhea (IBS-D) had more symptoms than FD.Conclusion:This study revealed a low rate of FBDs among the urban population of Tehran province. The ROME III criteria itself, and the problems with interpretation of the data collection tool may have contributed in underestimating the prevalence of FBD. In addition the reliability of recall over 6 months in Rome III criteria is questionable for our population.

Epidemiology of Functional Diarrhea and Comparison with Diarrhea-Predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Population-Based Survey in China

“…According to the Rome criteria, the primary difference in symptoms between functional diarrhea and IBS-D is that abdominal pain must be present in the latter. A study in Iran using Rome III, reported that some symptoms were more frequent in IBS-D than functional diarrhea [6]. In our study, IBS-D also had more frequency of the diarrhea symptoms, such as more than three bowel movements a day, having to rush to the toilet to have a bowel movement, feeling of incomplete emptying after a bowel movement, and so on.…”

“…Comparison with functional diarrhea, respondents with IBS-D had even worse health-related quality of life. This may be due to that people with IBS-D had more frequent symptoms [6]. Further studies are required to explore the quality of life of functional diarrhea and its comparison with IBS-D.…”

Serum Transaminase Concentrations and the Presence of Irritable Bowel Syndrome Are Associated with Serum 25-Hydroxy Vitamin D Concentrations in Adolescent Girls Who Are Overweight and Obese

“…Physical activity was assessed through a validated questionnaire [14] and indicated as metabolic equivalents in hours per day. Anthropometric parameters were obtained in health centers by trained paramedical staff.…”

Comparison of Hypnotherapy and Standard Medical Treatment Alone on Quality of Life in Patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Randomized Controlled Trial

“…Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is the most prevalent dysfunction of gastrointestinal tract developed for unknown reasons and characterized by gastric pain in defecation and variations in bowel habits [1]. By the standard diagnostic criteria of IBS, its prevalence depends on numerous variables, but it has been reported as ranging 5-20% [2].…”