title: Prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome among patients with mild-moderate and severe chronic pelvic pain.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in patients with mild-moderate and severe chronic pelvic pain (CPP) compared with controls.
  
  
  METHODS
  The cross-sectional study with age-matched controls was conducted in a university hospital The study group comprised ofconsecutive premenopausal women aged 17 to 51 years who had a chief complaint of CPP. Severity of pain was evaluated using a visual analog scale. The diagnosis of lBS was based on the Rome II criteria.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of IBS in the mild-moderate CPP group was 21 in 104 (20.2%) patients, and in the severe CPP group 25 in 131 (19.1%) patients. The patients in both mild-moderate CPP group (p-value = 0.028), and severe CPP group (p-value = 0.036) had higher prevalence oflBS compared to the controls. The prevalence oflBS in the mild-moderate CPP group was not different from that in the severe CPP group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence oflBS in patients with mild-moderate CPP was similar to that in patients with severe CPP.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla, Thailand.
authors.forename: Kammala
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tachawiwat
authors.forename: Sopon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cheewadhanaraks
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D059350:Chronic Pain / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D043183:Irritable Bowel Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement; D017699:Pelvic Pain / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D015995:Prevalence; D013785:Thailand; D055815:Young Adult