title: Irritable bowel syndrome symptoms among German students: prevalence, characteristics, and associations to somatic complaints, sleep, quality of life, and childhood abdominal pain.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common disorder in the general population, and is linked to considerable impairments in daily functioning. Little is known about the prevalence of IBS symptoms among students. This study examined the prevalence and characteristics of IBS, sex differences, associations to other somatic complaints and sleep, quality of life (QoL), and childhood abdominal pain in a German university student population.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using an Internet-based questionnaire, we assessed IBS criteria (according to Rome III), health complaints, health-related QoL (12-item short-form), healthcare-seeking behavior, absenteeism from classes, and subjective attributions in a sample of 2399 university students (mean age: 24.16 years; 1701 female and 696 male students).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of IBS-like symptoms was 18.1% with a significant difference between male (15.2%) and female (21.0%) students. Logistic regression models showed that being long-term student doubles the risk for having IBS [adjusted Odds ratio (OR)=2.16], as did the presence of other health problems: recurrent backaches (adjusted OR=2.15), troubles falling asleep (adjusted OR=1.52), and recurrent abdominal pain during childhood (adjusted OR=2.01). The IBS group had significant impairment on 12-item short-form physical and mental dimensions compared with asymptomatic students. Approximately 60% of participants fulfilling IBS criteria never consulted a physician. Male students attributed their symptoms significantly more to nutrition than female students did, who attributed their symptoms significantly more often to stress and anxiety.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  IBS is a common syndrome among German university students and goes along with impaired health-related QoL. According to our data, students reporting recurrent abdominal pain in childhood are especially at risk for IBS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Developmental Psychology, University of Tuebingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Marco D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Gulewitsch
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Enck
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hautzinger
authors.forename: Angelika A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Schlarb
mesh_terms: D015746:Abdominal Pain; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D043183:Irritable Bowel Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011788:Quality of Life; D012307:Risk Factors; D007319:Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders; D013334:Students; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult