Journal of Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences

  Background and Objectives : Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common gastrointestinal disorder with unknown pathophysiology and a number of detrimental effects including leave of absence, seeking for medical treatment, and a poor quality of life. We evaluated the frequency of this syndrome among students of Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences in 2008-2009.

  Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 406 students of Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences were choosen by systematic sampling method. The collecting data tool was a self-administrated questionnaire which designed according to the RomeIII. Data were then analyzed by X² test and t-Test.

  Results: Of 274 completed and returned questionnaires, 175 (63.9%) belonged to female and 99 (36.1%) belonged to male with a mean age of 21.36 ± 2.3 years (± standard deviation). Sixteen (5.8%) students had IBS with common symptoms of pain or abdominal discomfort associated with a change in frequency of stool (12.4%). These symptoms were more significantly frequent in women than in men (p=0.015). No significant differences were obseved between the other demographic variables and the frequency of IBS.

  Conclusion: The frequency of IBS was 5.8% in this study which was comparable to those reported from the other cities of Iran (4.2%-18.4%) or of developed countries and it was lower than the results from the developing countries.

  Key words: Irritable bowel syndrome, Students , Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences

  Funding: This research was funded by Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences.

  Conflict of Interest: Non declared.

  Ethical approval: Rafsanjan Medical University Ethics committee approved the study.

  How to cite this article : Rezahosseini O, Seyedmirzaee S.M, Sayadi AR, Sataei Mokhtari S. Frequency of Irritable Bowel Syndrome among Students of Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences 2008-2009 . J Rafsanjan Univ Med Scie 2012 11(2): 137-44. [Farsi]