L Y Chen1, K Y Ho, K H Phua. 1. Department of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Abstract
BACKGROUND/ AIM OF STUDY: Data on the epidemiology of bowel frequency and functional bowel disorders in the East are limited. The aims of this study were to determine the most common bowel frequency and the prevalence of functional bowel disorders in Singaporean adults. METHODS: A cross sectional study, using a reliable and valid questionnaire was carried out in a random sample of residents aged 16 years and above in Bishan, 68% responded (n = 271). RESULTS: The most common (59.0 +/- 6.5%) bowel frequency was once a day with 96.8 +/- 5.6% of individuals having bowel frequency between 3 times/week and 3 times/day. The prevalences of irritable bowel syndrome, chronic constipation and chronic diarrhoea were 3.2 +/- 2.3%, 7.3 +/- 3.5% and 6.9 +/- 3.4%, respectively. Women were found to have a lower bowel frequency (p < 0.001) and a higher prevalence of chronic constipation (11.3 +/- 6.0% vs. 3.6 + 3.5%, p < 0.05) than men. CONCLUSIONS: Normal bowel frequency may be defined as bowel movements between 3 times per week and three times per day. The prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome in the general population of Singapore was low compared with those reported in the West.
BACKGROUND/ AIM OF STUDY: Data on the epidemiology of bowel frequency and functional bowel disorders in the East are limited. The aims of this study were to determine the most common bowel frequency and the prevalence of functional bowel disorders in Singaporean adults. METHODS: A cross sectional study, using a reliable and valid questionnaire was carried out in a random sample of residents aged 16 years and above in Bishan, 68% responded (n = 271). RESULTS: The most common (59.0 +/- 6.5%) bowel frequency was once a day with 96.8 +/- 5.6% of individuals having bowel frequency between 3 times/week and 3 times/day. The prevalences of irritable bowel syndrome, chronic constipation and chronic diarrhoea were 3.2 +/- 2.3%, 7.3 +/- 3.5% and 6.9 +/- 3.4%, respectively. Women were found to have a lower bowel frequency (p < 0.001) and a higher prevalence of chronic constipation (11.3 +/- 6.0% vs. 3.6 + 3.5%, p < 0.05) than men. CONCLUSIONS: Normal bowel frequency may be defined as bowel movements between 3 times per week and three times per day. The prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome in the general population of Singapore was low compared with those reported in the West.
Authors: Uday C Ghoshal; Philip Abraham; Shobna J Bhatia; Sri Prakash Misra; Gourdas Choudhuri; K D Biswas; Karmabir Chakravartty; Sunil Dadhich; B D Goswami; V Jayanthi; Sunil Kumar; Abraham Koshy; K R Vinay Kumar; Govind Makharia; Sandeep Nijhawan; Nitesh Pratap; Gautam Ray; Sanjeev Sachdeva; Shivaram Prasad Singh; Varghese Thomas; Harsh Udawat Journal: Indian J Gastroenterol Date: 2013-09-03
Authors: Uday C Ghoshal; Kok-Ann Gwee; Minhu Chen; Xiao R Gong; Nitesh Pratap; Xiaohua Hou; Ari F Syam; Murdani Abdullah; Young-Tae Bak; Myung-Gyu Choi; Sutep Gonlachanvit; Andrew S B Chua; Kuck-Meng Chong; Kewin T H Siah; Ching-Liang Lu; Lishou Xiong; William E Whitehead Journal: J Neurogastroenterol Motil Date: 2015-01-01 Impact factor: 4.924