- Title
- A randomly selected population sample undergoing colonoscopy: prevalence of the irritable bowel syndrome and the impact of selection factors
- Creator
- Kjellström, Lars; Molinder, Herdis; Agréus, Lars; Nyhlin, Henry; Talley, Nicholas J.; Andreasson, Anna
- Relation
- European Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Vol. 26, Issue 3, p. 268-275
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/MEG.0000000000000024
- Publisher
- Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2014
- Description
- Objective: To analyse the epidemiology of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) symptoms in a random sample of the general population and in a subsample consenting to a colonoscopy, and to what extent this introduces symptom selection bias. Materials and methods: Overall, 3347 randomly selected Swedish adults aged 18–70 years were mailed the validated Abdominal Symptom Questionnaire (ASQ). Responders (n=2293; 68.5%) were contacted by phone, and 745 consented to a colonoscopy. All nonresponders were contacted by phone; 265 were reached and asked seven key ASQ questions. Colonoscopy participants also completed the Rome II Modular Questionnaire. Results: The prevalence of IBS on the basis of the mailed ASQ (troublesome abdominal pain and bowel disturbance in the past 3 months) was 26.2% [95% confidence interval (CI): 24.4–28.0] among the ASQ responders and 36.6% (95% CI: 33.2–40.1) among the colonoscopy participants (P<0.001). Nonresponders had a lower prevalence of IBS (15.8%; 95% CI: 11.4–20.3, P<0.001) than ASQ responders. Colonoscopy participants were slightly older than noncolonoscoped participants completing the ASQ (P<0.001), but men and women were equally represented and no significant socioeconomic differences were identified. The prevalence of IBS was 14.8% (95% CI: 12.2–17.5) on the basis of the Rome II Modular Questionnaire in colonoscopy participants and 14.5% (95% CI: 11.9–17.2) when visible inflammatory disease was excluded. Of the colonoscopy participants, 31.9% (95% CI: 28.5–35.3) were symptom free. Conclusion: IBS symptoms are common and rarely explained by visible inflammatory disease or cancer. There was a modest selection bias by IBS in participants accepting a screening colonoscopy, but still, one-third were symptom free. Thus, conclusions for the general population can be made from findings in the study cohort.
- Subject
- colonoscopy; epidemiology; gastrointestinal symptoms; irritable bowel syndrome; population-based study
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1293469
- Identifier
- uon:18602
- Identifier
- ISSN:0954-691X
- Language
- eng
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