Abstract

PREVALENCE AND RISK FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME AMONG MEDICAL AND NON MEDICAL FEMALE STUDENTS IN TAIBAH UNIVERSITY

Lamia khalif alharbi*, Areej Mohammed Al-Amri, Doaa Yousif Alamri, Esraa Qabl
Alsaedi, Shahad Saad Alhujaili and Magda HM Youssef

Abstract

Objective Our Aims: To determine the prevalence of Irritable bowel syndrome among medical and non-medical female students in Taibah University. Also, to evaluate the symptoms, risk factors and the association between BMI and IBS. Methods and subjects: A crosssectional study conducted in Taibah University at Al Madinah. A convenient sample conducted randomly from 200 female medical students and 216 female non-medical students. A Research tool is a questionnaire which contains 38 questions. Results: The incidence of Irritable bowel Syndrome was 21.9%. It is more among community College students than medical students. The overall prevalence of IBS was higher in students aged 19 years compared to older students. 39% with low income among community collage compare with medicine collage (20%) with moderate income. 92% of the medical students and 98%of community students with IBS they suffer from stress. There is a relationship between the incidence of IBS and the diagnosis of a family member IBS. In this study, there was no significant relation between BMI and the occurrence of IBS among the students who diagnosed with IBS in both Medicine and community Colleges. Conclusion: The prevalence in our study in Taibah University reported that IBS is high in Community students than Medical students. Students more frequently suffer with mental stress and anxiety are more associated with IBS. Students who drink mints relieve their symptoms more than other food.

Keywords: Irritable Bowel Syndrome, IBS, medical students, functional gastrointestinal disorder.