Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011 Jan;17(1):82-7.
doi: 10.5056/jnm.2011.17.1.82. Epub 2011 Jan 26.

Prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome: a community based study from northern India

Govind K Makharia  1 , Anil K Verma, Ritvik Amarchand, Anil Goswami, Prashant Singh, Abhishek Agnihotri, Faizul Suhail, Anand Krishnan
Affiliations

Prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome: a community based study from northern India

Govind K Makharia et al. J Neurogastroenterol Motil. 2011 Jan.

Abstract

Background/aims: The prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) varies from 4% to 20% in different Asian nations. Prevalence of IBS in native North Indian community is not known.

Methods: Between November 2008 to December 2009, we estimated the prevalence of IBS in a rural community of Ballabgarh block, located in Haryana state. A structured questionnaire based on Rome III module was used to collect symptoms related to IBS from all the participants in a door to door survey. A Rome III criterion was used for diagnosis of IBS. IBS was further classified based on predominance of symptoms as constipation predominant, diarrhea predominant, mixed and unspecified based on Rome III module.

Results: There were 4,767 participants (mean age 34.6 ± 10.8, males 50%). Overall, 555 (11.6%; 95% CI, 10.7-12.5) had constipation, 542 (11.4%; 95% CI, 10.5-12.3) diarrhea and 823 (17.3%; 95% CI, 16.2-18.4) abdominal pain. The overall prevalence of IBS was 4% (95% CI, 3.5-4.6). The prevalence of constipation predominant IBS was 0.3% (95% CI, 0.16-0.49), diarrhea predominant IBS 1.5% (95% CI, 1.18-1.90), mixed IBS 1.7% (95% CI, 1.35-2.11) and unsubtyped IBS 0.5% (95% CI, 0.32-0.75). The prevalence of IBS was significantly higher in females compared with males (4.8% vs 3.2%, P = 0.008). However, there was no significant difference between males and females in the prevalence of different subtypes of IBS. The prevalence increased with age.

Conclusions: The prevalence of IBS in a North Indian community is 4%. IBS poses a significant burden on the rural adults.

Keywords: Asia; Constipation; Diarrhea; Epidemiology; Irritable bowel syndrome.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest: None.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome subtypes in different age group. IBS, irritable bowel syndrome; IBS-C, constipation predominant IBS; IBS-D, diarrhea predominant IBS; IBS-M, mixed IBS; IBS-U, unsubtyped IBS.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome subtypes in men and women. Abbreviations as Figure 1.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Okumura T, Tanno S, Ohhira M, Tanno S. Prevalence of functional dyspepsia in an outpatient clinic with primary care physicians in Japan. J Gastroenterol. 2010;45:187–194. - PubMed
    1. Jones R, Lydeard S. Irritable bowel syndrome in the general population. BMJ. 1992;304:87–90. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hungin AP, Chang L, Locke GR, Dennis EH, Barghout V. Irritable bowel syndrome in the United States: prevalence, symptom patterns and impact. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2005;21:1365–1375. - PubMed
    1. Minocha A, Johnson WD, Abell TL, Wigington WC. Prevalence, sociodemography, and quality of life of older versus younger patients with irritable bowel syndrome: a population-based study. Dig Dis Sci. 2006;51:446–453. - PubMed
    1. Talley NJ. Functional gastrointestinal disorders as a public health problem. Neurogastroenterol Motil. 2008;20(suppl 1):121–129. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources