Prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome in a Nigerian student population.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a widely recognized disorder accounting for up to 50% of referrals to gastroenterologists in the Western world. Existing literature had suggested that its prevalence is low among native Africans. The objective [corrected] is to document the prevalence of IBS in this environment. A cross-sectional study of clinical students at the Jos University Medical School and the School of Medical Laboratory Technology in Jos University were cohorted. Questionnaires based on the Rome II criteria were administered to 330 students (221 males and 109 females). Irritable bowel syndrome was present in 86 (26.1%) of the subjects, being present in 58 (26.4%) of the males and 28 (25.7%) of the females respectively (OR 0.97, 95% CI 0.57-1.63, p = 0.89). The mean age of subjects with IBS was 26.3 +/- 4.0 years and that of subjects without IBS was 26.5 +/- 3.8 years, p = 0.6. The majority (54.8%) of the subjects did not consider their symptoms as illness and therefore did not seek any form of care. More males sought medical care compared to females (19.6% vs. 3.6% respectively, p = 0.02). Depressive symptoms were present in 21 (24.4%) of subjects with IBS compared to 36 (14.8%) of those without (p = 0.06). Irritable bowel syndrome is a common disorder in the student population of a medical school in Northern Nigeria.