Prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome and its associated risk factors among university students of Bangladesh

BACKGROUND: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a very common gastrointestinal disorder worldwide, but research regarding this disease is rare in Bangladesh. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of IBS and its associated risk factors among university students in Bangladesh. METHODS: This is a cross‐sectional study. A total of 300 randomly selected participants were included in this study. By using a structured questionnaire and anthropometric methods, we collected all the required data for our study. The diagnosis of IBS was based on Rome III criteria. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of IBS was 39.3%, but the majority (77.3%) had no basic awareness of IBS. In our study, anxiety and depression (χ (2) = 6.817; odds ratio [OR] = 1.910; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.172, 3.113; P = 0.011) had a significant relationship with IBS and IBS had a significant (P < 0.001) relationship with food intolerance (χ (2) = 8.737; OR = 2.130; 95% CI = 1.284, 3.531), chest pain (χ (2) = 7.482; OR = 2.035; 95% CI = 1.218, 3.401), and insomnia (χ (2) = 19.320; OR = 2.907; 95% CI = 1.794, 4.709). In our dietary data, the intake patterns of vegetables (P = 0.000), fast food (P = 0.000), and tea–coffee (P = 0.003) showed a strong significant association with IBS. On the other hand, monthly household income (P = 0.154) and body mass index (BMI) (P = 0.138) showed no significant association with IBS. Among our study subjects, IBS‐constipation (54.2%) was more common than IBS‐diarrhea (27.1%) and IBS‐mixed (18.6%). Moreover, among the 118 IBS respondents, 67.8% had a headache with increased flatulence (95.8%) as the most common IBS‐related complication. CONCLUSION: IBS is common in university students of Bangladesh and is associated with anxiety, depression, and particular dietary patterns.