CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 884Gastrointestinal motility and disordersInfant Health and DevelopmentGut microbiota and health

Global prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome according to Rome III or IV criteria: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Open access
Oka, Priya, Parr, Heather, Barberio, Brigida, Black, Christopher J, Savarino, Edoardo V, Ford, Alexander C·2020·The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology
DOI 10.1016/s2468-1253(20)30217-x
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

Background Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is one of the most common functional bowel disorders, but community prevalence appears to vary widely between different countries. This variation might be due to the fact that previous cross-sectional surveys have neither applied uniform diagnostic criteria nor used identical methodology, rather than being due to true global variability. We aimed to determine the global prevalence of IBS.Methods We did a systematic review and meta-analysis of data from all population-based studies using relatively uniform methodology and using only the most recent iterations of the Rome criteria (Rome III and IV). We searched MEDLINE, Embase, and Embase Classic (from Jan 1, 2006, to April 30, 2020) to identify cross-sectional surveys reporting the prevalence of IBS in adults (≥90% of participants aged ≥18 years) according to the Rome III or Rome IV criteria. We also hand-searched a selection of conference proceedings for relevant abstracts published between 2006 and 2019. We extracted prevalence data for all studies, according to the criteria used to define the presence of IBS. We did a meta-analysis to estimate pooled prevalence rates, according to study location and certain other characteristics (eg, sex and IBS subtype).Findings We identified 4143 citations, of which 184 studies appeared relevant. 57 of these studies were eligible, and represented 92 separate adult populations, comprising 423 362 participants. The pooled prevalence of IBS in 53 studies that used the Rome III criteria, from 38 countries and comprising 395 385 participants, was 9·2% (95% CI 7·6-10·8; I 2=99·7%). By contrast, pooled IBS prevalence among six studies that used the Rome IV criteria, from 34 countries and comprising 82 476 individuals, was 3·8% (95% CI 3·1-4·5; I 2=96·6%). IBS with mixed bowel habit (IBS-M) was the most common subtype with the Rome III criteria, reported by 33·8% (95% CI 27·8-40·0; I 2=98·1%) of people fulfilling criteria for IBS (ie, 3·7% [2·6-4·9] of all included participants had IBS-M), but IBS with diarrhoea (IBS-D) was the most common subtype with the Rome IV criteria (reported by 31·5% [95% CI 23·2-40·5; I 2=98·1% 61·6%] of people with IBS, corresponding to 1·4% [0·9-1·9] of all included participants having IBS-D). The prevalence of IBS was higher in women than in men (12·0% [95% CI 9·3-15·0] vs 8·6% [6·3-11·2]; odds ratio 1·46 [95% CI 1·33-1·59]). Prevalence varied substantially between individual countries, and this variability persisted even when the same diagnostic criteria were applied and identical methodology was used in studies.Interpretation Even when uniform symptom-based criteria are applied, based on identical methodology, to define the presence of IBS, prevalence varies substantially between countries. Prevalence was substantially lower with the Rome IV criteria, suggesting that these more restrictive criteria might be less suitable than Rome III for population-based epidemiological surveys.Funding None.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/s2468-1253(20)30217-x

Cites

87 of 87 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

1 of the 88 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. [21]21. Gómez Alvarez DF, Morales Vargas JG RML. Prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome and associated factors according to the Rome III diagnostic criteria in a general population in Colombia. Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2009;32(6):395-400.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Oka, P., Parr, H., Barberio, B., Black, C. J., Savarino, E. V., & Ford, A. C.
Affiliations
  • University of Leeds (GB)
  • University of Padua (IT)
Corresponding author
Ford, Alexander C
ORCID
Venue
The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2020-10
Volume
5
Issue
10
Pages
908-917
ISSN
  • 2468-1156 (ISSN-L)
  • 2468-1253
DOI
10.1016/s2468-1253(20)30217-x
OpenAlex
W3042758557
Cited by
882
References
88
Citations by year
2026: 148 · 2025: 158 · 2024: 199 · 2023: 152 · 2022: 128 · 2021: 83 · 2020: 11
FWCI
16.35
Type
journal article
Language
en
Update notices
erratum (2020-12-01)
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • The Lancet. Gastroenterology & hepatology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • White Rose Research Online (University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, University of York) (acceptedVersion)
  • Padua Research Archive (University of Padova) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Gastroenterology › Gastrointestinal motility and disorders
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Pharmacy › Infant Health and Development
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
Keywords
irritable bowel syndrome, prevalence, Rome III criteria, Rome IV criteria, functional bowel disorders, IBS subtypes, irritable bowel syndrome with constipation, diagnostic criteria, adults, sex differences, cross-cultural comparison, population survey
MeSH terms
Adult, Cross-Sectional Studies, Defecation, Diarrhea, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Surveys and Questionnaires, Prevalence, Irritable Bowel Syndrome

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review