The Epidemiology of Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a very common functional gastrointestinal disease, and it is likely various factors contribute to the causation of IBS symptoms. The prevalence of IBS are greatly affected by the IBS diagnostic criteria such as Manning, Rome III, and Rome IV. The worldwide prevalence of IBS ranges from 8% to 20% of the general population before the Rome IV criteria publication in 2016, whereas a recent study reported a 3.8% IBS prevalence with the Rome IV criteria. The Rome IV IBS criteria are thought to be more restrictive and severe than the Rome III and other criteria. Numerous studies have reported that IBS is more prevalent in women than in men. Additionally, IBS is the most prevalent in patients with less than 50 years old, and this prevalence decrease with age. Several other factors including races, geographic location, eating habits, and body mass index influence the epidemiology of IBS.