The Prevalence, Symptom Characteristics, and Impact of Irritable Bowel Syndrome in an Asian Urban Community
Abstract
Objectives To study the epidemiology, symptom characteristics and impact of IBS in an urban Asian population. Methods A validated bowel symptom questionnaire was administered at face-to-face interviews to a random sample of 3,000 households in Singapore. Results The response rate was 78.2% (n = 2,276, 1,143 males and 1,133 females). The age, sex, and racial distribution of our respondents were similar to the general population and there was no significant difference between respondents and nonrespondents by type of household. The prevalence of IBS was 11.0%, 10.4%, and 8.6% by Manning (>1 criteria), Rome I and Rome II criteria, respectively. There was a higher prevalence of IBS in those years, p = 0.002), with more than 6 years of education (9.8%vs 5.9% 6 year or Conclusions The prevalence and impact of IBS in our Asian urban society are greater than previously appreciated. We believe that our results provide a useful window to the future trends of gastrointestinal diseases for health and education authorities in developing Asian countries to look into.
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Pain in IBS is usually in the lower abdomen, although Asian patients may report upper abdominal pain.
“Thirdly, pain is usually in the lower abdomen, although Asian patients may report upper abdominal pain. 63”
From Irritable bowel syndrome (2020) · cites this paper as [63]
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- Authors
- Gwee, K.-A., Wee, S., Wong, M.-L., & J C Png, D.
- Affiliations
- National University of Singapore (SG)
- Corresponding author
- Gwee, Kok-Ann
- Venue
- The American Journal of Gastroenterology
- Published
- 2004-05
- Volume
- 99
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 924-931
- ISSN
- 0002-9270 (ISSN-L)
- 1572-0241
- OpenAlex
- W2064568023
- Cited by
- 190
- References
- 8
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 13 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 18 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 18
- FWCI
- 8.17
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The American Journal of Gastroenterology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Gastroenterology › Gastrointestinal motility and disorders
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Pharmacy › Infant Health and Development
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Rheumatology › Pelvic floor disorders treatments
- Keywords
- irritable bowel syndrome, prevalence, symptom characteristics, Manning criteria, Rome criteria, chronic constipation, chronic diarrhea, Singapore, socioeconomic factors, housing type, educational attainment, age differences
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aged, Analysis of Variance, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Population Surveillance, Quality of Life, Surveys and Questionnaires, Risk Factors, Severity of Illness Index, Singapore, Urban Population, Incidence, Prevalence, Confidence Intervals, Chi-Square Distribution, Odds Ratio, Age Distribution, Sex Distribution, Sickness Impact Profile, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Asian People
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