Prevalence and correlates of irritable bowel symptoms in a New Zealand birth cohort.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the prevalence and correlates of bowel symptoms and the irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in a birth cohort of young New Zealanders.


METHODS
Participants in the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study at age 26 completed a validated Bowel Disease Questionnaire expressing their experience of clearly defined symptoms over the previous 12 months.


RESULTS
980 participants (499 male, 481 female, comprising 96% of the birth cohort) completed the questionnaire. Sixty four per cent had at least one of the measured symptoms; abdominal pain was reported in 46.5%, chronic constipation in 9.1%, and chronic diarrhoea in 17.1%. A diagnosis of IBS could be made by using two or more of Manning's diagnostic criteria in 18.8%, three or more criteria in 10.3%, and more than three in 3.3%. Symptoms were more than twice as frequent and severe in females than males.


CONCLUSIONS
Bowel-related abdominal symptoms, including those required for a diagnosis of IBS, are very common in 26-year-old New Zealanders; the prevalence of these symptoms is very similar to that recorded previously in Europe and the USA.
Barbezat
Gil
G
Department of Medicine, Dunedin School of Medicine, Dunedin, New Zealand. gil.barbezat@stonebow.otago.ac.nz
Poulton
Richie
R
Milne
Barry
B
Howell
Stuart
S
Fawcett
J Paul
JP
Talley
Nicholas
N
D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D003109:Colonic Diseases, Functional / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003248:Constipation / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009520:New Zealand / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012044:Regression Analysis; D017678:Sex Distribution; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires