title: Prevalence of gastrointestinal symptoms and signs in northwestern Tabriz, Iran.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the prevalence of gastrointestinal (GI) signs and symptoms in the general population in the northwestern area of Tabriz, Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  During May 2000, 4225 subjects were randomly chosen from a general population of approximately 230,000 individuals, and invited to a questionnaire interview and a clinical examination.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the subjects invited, 3983 (94.2%) participated in the study. Among them, 569 (14.3%) reported one or more GI symptoms in the last 2 weeks, and 96 (2.4%) had GI signs. Abdominal pain (5.1%), constipation (3.6%), heartburn (3.0%), dyspepsia (2.9%), a mass prolapsing from the anus (2.1%), bloating (1.5%), and hematochezia (l%) were the most common GI symptoms. Abdominal tenderness on deep palpation was the commonest clinical sign (1.2%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of GI symptoms in the population studied was lower than that reported from other populations.
authors.affiliation: Tabriz Health Network, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Manochehr
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Khoshbaten
authors.forename: Azita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hekmatdoost
authors.forename: Hamzeh
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ghasemi
authors.forename: Masood
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Entezariasl
mesh_terms: D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003906:Developing Countries; D005260:Female; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance; D015995:Prevalence; D012424:Rural Population; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017678:Sex Distribution; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires