Prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome in Korea: population-based survey using the Rome II criteria.
BACKGROUND
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common functional gastrointestinal disorder in the West. But information on the prevalence of IBS in Asia is still lacking, especially in Korea. Therefore, the aims of the present study were to estimate the prevalence of IBS in the general population of Korea and also to investigate characteristics of IBS and health-care-seeking behavior of IBS patients.


METHODS
Telephone interview survey was conducted by Gallup, Korea using a validated questionnaire based on the Rome II criteria. The response rate of the telephone interview survey was 25.2% (n = 1066, 535 male and 531 female responders). A random sample of gender and age (between 18 and 60 years), based on a per capita ratio was obtained.


RESULTS
Among 1066 subjects, the prevalence of IBS was 6.6% (70 subjects; 7.1%, male; 6.0%, female). The difference in IBS prevalence by gender was not significant. The prevalence was higher among those in their 20s (P = 0.036). Among 70 subjects with IBS, 10/20 IBS subjects sought health care due to abdominal pain. Among the risk factors of IBS, marital status had a significant difference; the following risk factors are arranged in descending order: age (odds ratio [OR]: 1.38, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.85-2.25), alcohol intake (OR: 1.38, 95%CI: 0.81-2.35), gender (OR: 1.19, 95%CI: 0.73-1.94), demographics (OR: 1.09, 95%CI: 0.53-2.25), income (OR: 0.88, 95%CI: 0.54-1.45), education level (OR: 0.81, 95%CI: 0.46-1.40), smoking (OR: 0.64, 95%CI: 0.37-1.12), and marital status (OR: 0.59, 95%CI: 0.35-0.99).


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of IBS in the Korean population is 6.6%, and the male:female ratio is similar. Also, IBS is more frequent in younger subjects. Irritable bowel syndrome subjects visited a physician mostly due to abdominal pain.
Han
Sung Hee
SH
Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea.
Lee
Oh Young
OY
Bae
Sang Cheol
SC
Lee
Seok Hwa
SH
Chang
Yu Kyung
YK
Yang
Sun Young
SY
Yoon
Byung Chul
BC
Choi
Ho Soon
HS
Hahm
Joon Soo
JS
Lee
Min Ho
MH
Lee
Dong Hoo
DH
Kim
Tae Hwa
TH
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D043183:Irritable Bowel Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology*; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires