• Saba Alvand, Zahra Mohammadi, Laleh Rashidian, Bahman Cheraghian, Zahra Rahimi, Leila Danehchin, Yousef Paridar, Farhad Abolnezhadian, Mohammad Noori, Seyed Ali Mard, Sahar Masoudi, Ali Akbar Shayesteh, and Hossein Poustchi.
• Liver and Pancreatobiliary Diseases Research Center, Digestive Diseases Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
• Arch Iran Med. 2020 Dec 1; 23 (12): 821-826.

BackgroundIrritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional disease with no exact laboratory or imaging findings. IBS is more common in areas with a history of psychological trauma and war. This study aims to report the prevalence and possible determinants of IBS in southwestern Iran, an area with a notable history of war.MethodsWe randomly enrolled 1849 permanent residents in 29 cities aged 20 to 65 years. A validated for Farsi version Rome III criteria and a questionnaire, including demographic data and health history, were administered to each subject. Participants who fulfilled the Rome III criteria were categorized into three groups: Diarrhea dominant (IBS-D), Constipation dominant (IBS-C), and Mixed type (IBS-M).ResultsThe total prevalence of IBS was 3.2%, with 70% of subjects being of Arab descent (P=0.004). IBS was more common in females, singles, illiterate subjects, and people younger than 30 years; however, none of these differences were statistically significant. People with depression, anxiety, self-report of psychological disorders, and very low socioeconomic status had a significantly higher prevalence of IBS (P<0.05). After multivariable logistic regression analysis, very low socioeconomic status had an independent role in IBS predictivity (OR: 2.28, 95% CI: 1.01-5.15).ConclusionThis study shows a higher prevalence of IBS symptoms in a population-based study in the region compared to counterparts in other regions of Iran. Considering the higher prevalence of self-reported psychological disorders, further studies are recommended to focus on the exact diagnosis of mental disorders and their influence on IBS.© 2020 The Author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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