Prevalence and risk factors of irritable bowel syndrome in Irkutsk

Abstract

Introduction. The study of the problem of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in recent years has been very dynamic. In the Rome IV criteria, new criteria for the diagnosis of this pathology were proposed. Along with the existence of ethnic and geographic differ­ences, this has led to an increase in the activity of studies on the prevalence of IBS.Aim. To study the prevalence and risk factors of irritable bowel syndrome in Irkutsk.Materials and methods. A single-stage observational non-randomized study was performed on the basis of three medical institu­tions in Irkutsk. Interviewing and clinical examination were performed in 1 529 people: 724 men and 805 women, average age 51.0 years. The questionnaire contained questions to determine the presence of alarm symptoms. The diagnosis of IBS was based on the Rome IV criteria. IBS with a predominance of diarrhea, IBS with a predominance of constipation and mixed and undiffer­entiated IBS were distinguished. Taking into account the position of the Rome IV criteria and the recommendations of the American College of Gastroenterology (2021), we used a positive diagnosis of IBS in our study and did not perform an instrumental examination of patients.Results. The prevalence of IBS was 12.3%. Among the subtypes of IBS, IBS prevailed with a predominance of constipation (preva­lence 5.7%) and IBS of mixed and undifferentiated type (prevalence 4.6%). Risk factors for IBS were female sex (OR = 0.73; CI 0.53-0.99; p = 0.05), age over 50 years (OR = 0.66; CI 0.48-0.90; p = 0.01) and obesity (OR = 0.46; CI 0.31-0.69; p < 0.001). Risk factors for IBS with a predominance of constipation were female sex (OR = 0.46; CI 0.29-0.73; p = 0.001), age over 50 years (OR = 0.46; CI 0.29-0.73; p = 0.001) and obesity (OR = 0.41; CI 0.23-0.72; p = 0.002).Conclusions. In general, our results are consistent with data from other regions of the world. It should be emphasized that the prevalence of IBS in Irkutsk is quite high, which requires careful attention to this problem.