STUDY OF PREVALENCE  OF IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME (IBS) IN THE GENERAL POPULATION OF RIO DE JANEIRO - BRAZIL. A CONTRIBUTION TO THE EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDY OF IBS IN SOUTH AMERICA

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) remains a clinical challenge in the 21st century. Various mechanisms and theories have been proposed about its etiology, but the biopsychosocial model is the most currently accepted. The prevalence of IBS in the general population ranges from 9% to 22%. However, the contrasts between different studies highlight the importance of standardizing diagnostic criteria, study methodology and subject populations and justify the importance of studies that standardize the prevalence of IBS in the various regions of the world, unifying the clinical therapeutic approach for these patients. This study aimed to study the prevalence of IBS in a group of volunteers in a Brazilian urban community using the personal interview research method. Our cross-sectional study included 700 university volunteers who completed a clinical epidemiological questionnaire and a Portuguese version of the Rome III modular questionnaire. The prevalence of IBS in this group was 12.4%. The factors highlighted by this study, when comparing the two groups of volunteers, were those related to the higher prevalence of IBS in women, the higher frequency of other gastrointestinal symptoms, and self-reported food intolerance. The prevalence rate was similar to that found in European countries and the USA. We believe that our study contributes to the literature in the specific area and consequently to better clinical and therapeutic management of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).