Prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome in Italian rural and urban areas.
OBJECTIVE
No comparative studies are available, as yet, in Italy, concerning the prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in urban and rural areas. The aim is to compare the prevalence of IBS in Italian urban and rural areas.


METHODS
950 subjects were randomly selected from each area and completed a questionnaire regarding demographic data and the Rome II questionnaire.


RESULTS
The prevalence of IBS was significantly (p<0.05) higher in the urban (9.9%), than in the rural area (4.4%). In the urban area, a significantly higher prevalence of IBS was observed in females than in males, 67/490 (13.7%) vs 27/460 (5.9%) (p<0.05), while no gender differences were present in the rural population.


CONCLUSIONS
In the urban area, we found a higher prevalence of IBS, and a significantly higher prevalence of IBS in females than in males, while no gender differences were present in the rural population.
Usai
Paolo
P
Gastroenterology Unit, University of Cagliari, S.S. 554 Bivio per Sestu, Monserrato (CA), Italy. usaip@medicina.unica.it
Manca
Roberto
R
Lai
Maria Antonia
MA
Russo
Luigi
L
Boi
Maria Francesca
MF
Ibba
Ivan
I
Giolitto
Giancarlo
G
Cuomo
Rosario
R
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D043183:Irritable Bowel Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology*; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012737:Sex Factors; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult