Correlating the altered bowel habits among young medical doctors when exposed to rural posting in the course of their training in India

Abstract

Background: Altered bowel habits, is a commonly encountered presentation, especially among training professionals. During training, young doctors move to rural areas, experience the stress factors in food and environment causing the altered bowel habits. Hence correlating altered bowel habits among young medical doctors when exposed to relative culture barriers was the main aim of the study. Methods: It was a cross sectional study among interns and postgraduates from all over the country for a duration of 2 months from January 2023 to March 2023 for 150 participants. A self-administered questionnaire with socio- demographic variables and a standard PAC-SYM was used for the scoring of altered bowel habits. Data entered into Excel and analysed using SPSS software. Descriptive statistics were taken and Kruskal Wallis test was done for statistical significance. Results: 60% of the students belong to 20-24 age group. 55% of participants were female. 48.7% of mothers were homemakers and 46.6% were professionals. 90% of students were exposed to rural areas and 32% of them stayed there for more than 2 months. Gender, duration of stay, frequency of food consumption and bathroom comfort were statistically significant with the symptoms of altered bowel habits. Conclusions: From the above study, we have tried to prove poor water supply, poor hygiene, and multiple people sharing the toilet are significant stressor factors for the medical trainee during their stay in rural health centres across the country.