Impact of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) on the Quality of Life of Students at the Faculty of Medical Sciences of Bouake

Introduction: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a benign condition that affects the quality of life (QoL) of patients. The objective of this study was to evaluate its impact on the quality of life of students at the Faculty of Medical Sciences of Bouake. Materials and methods: This was a cross-sectional study with analytical aims carried out from January 2022 to July 2022. Included in the study were 251 medical students from the Faculty of Medical Sciences of Bouake who did not suffer from any known organic or psychiatric illness. Parameters relating to sociodemographic characteristics, clinical symptoms, severity of symptoms, and dimensions of quality of life, evaluated using the medical outcome study short form (Mos-SF-36) were collected and analyzed. Comparisons were made using the Chi 2 test, T-Student and ANOVA. The significance threshold was set at p < 0.05. Results: Of the 251 students who participated in the study, 95 suffered from IBS, representing a prevalence of 38.7%. The average age of students suffering from IBS was 23.9 years ± 3 years. These students lived outside the family home in 78.9% of cases. The symptoms presented were considered moderate in 48.4% of cases and severe in 33.7% of cases. IBS-D and IBS-C subtypes were the most observed with respective prevalence’s of 38.9% and 31.6%. The factors found associated with IBS were female gender (p = 0.023), level of study doctorate I (p = 0.036) and stress (p = 0.005). All dimensions of quality of life were impaired in these students. This alteration in quality of life was significantly associated with the severity of symptoms (p = 0.048) and the level of master 1 study (p = 0.005). Conclusion: IBS is a common condition among medical students with symptoms considered moderate to severe leading to impaired quality of life.