Prevalence of Irritable Bowel Syndrome in Medical Students Africa (Irritablebowel)

October 19, 2023 updated by: Zeinab Galal Eldeen Abdelhamid, Assiut University

Prevalence of Irritable Bowel Syndrome in Medical Students in the Middle East and North Africa

The aim of the present study was to assess the prevalence of IBS among medical students in the Middle East and North Africa and to investigate the sociodemographic, lifestyle, and clinical factors associated with IBS. A better understanding of IBS correlates is expected to improve our therapeutic approach to IBS in this population.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Detailed Description

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a multifactorial chronic disease characterized with functional gastrointestinal disorder which affects the quality of life of the patient. Until now the pathophysiology of IBS was not completely understood but it has been related to multiple mechanisms like: visceral hypersensitivity, Brain-gut axis, post infectious inflammation and genetic abnormalities.(1) Many demographic and environmental factors are considered risk factors for the condition like: sex, age, BMI, social status and life style(2). IBS outspreaded all over the world varying between 14.7% to 16.5% in east Asian countries(3,4). As IBS is diagnosed mainly clinically, many scales have been developed to provide the best sensitivity for diagnosing the condition. The recent common criteria for diagnosing are ROME III and ROME VI. A meta-analysis conducted by Oka et al the pooled prevalence of IBS in 53 surveys that used the Rome III criteria from 38 countries was 9.2% (95% CI 7.6-10.8; I2 = 99.7%). Contrary, the pooled IBS prevalence among the 6 surveys that used the Rome IV criteria from 34 countries was 3.8% (95% CI 3.1-4.5; I2 = 96.6%)(5). The different prevalence rates are probably justified by the multifactorial nature of the disease and the various social status and environments from a country to another. However, there wasn't enough studies could define the prevalence of IBS among middle-eastern countries. The prevalence of IBS varies depending on socioeconomic factors, sex, and age. University students in the Middle East and North Africa are affected by many Lifestyle factors that participate in IBS by one way or another such as unhealthy eating habits (junk or fast food), cigarette smoking, physical inactivity and the fact that they're living low-income countries. IBS has also been associated with psychological factors such as stress, depression, and anxiety. Additionally, as their young age genetic factors and positive family history are implicated. Medical students, are more likely exposed to IBS risk factors as they have limited access to healthy meals, financial constraints, and a excessive exposure to stress secondary to their exceedingly demanding education and frequent examinations. Thus, they are more probably to develop IBS than other population subgroups.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

1131

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Medical students enrolled in from medical schools located in the Middle East and North Africa.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Medical students enrolled in from medical schools located in the Middle East and North Africa.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • 1- History of significant comorbidities 2- Participants with definite or suspected history of inflammatory bowel disease, celiac disease, Lactose intolerance or peptic ulcer disease. 3- Psychiatric patients or patients on antidepressant treatment or using psychotropic drugs affecting their cognitive ability.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Describe the prevalence of IBS among medical students
Time Frame: 6 month

assess the prevalence of IBS among medical students in the Middle East and North Africa and to investigate the sociodemographic,

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lifestyle, and clinical factors associated with IBS. A better understanding of IBS correlates is expected to improve our therapeutic approach to IBS in this population.

6 month

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Collaborators

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

October 20, 2023

Primary Completion (Estimated)

March 10, 2024

Study Completion (Estimated)

October 10, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 19, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 19, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

October 24, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

October 24, 2023

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 19, 2023

Last Verified

October 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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