PREVALENCE OF IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH STRESS AND OTHER RISK FACTORS AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS OF PESHAWAR

Objectives: To find out the prevalence of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) among university students of Peshawar. Toquantify anxiety levels of the students using DASS-21 scoring system. To find the association between the DASS-21 scoreand Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and to find the association of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) with other risk factors.Material and Methods: Questionnaires from students studying in different universities of Peshawar were collectedduring the months of March and April 2018. A total 520 students responded. The questionnaire asked for relevant biodata that included name, age, gender, address, university name and the year/semester they were studying in. Therewere also questions relating to any symptoms relating to Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) that they had experiencedin the past three months, if they had family history for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and if they were allergic to anysubstance. The last portion of the questionnaire contained questions that were used in assessment of anxiety levels ofthe students using DASS-21 scoring system.Results: Total number of respondents were 520. Of these, the Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) cases recorded were103 (19.8%). Of the 103 Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) patients, 53 (51.5%) were female and 50 (48.5%) were male.Among the Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) patients, 28 (27.2%) had extremely severe anxiety, 13 (12.6%) had severeanxiety, 28 (27.2%) had moderate anxiety, 9 (8.7%) had mild anxiety and 25 (24.3%) had normal levels of anxiety. 12(11.7%) of the students having Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) were extremely depressed, 19 (18.4%) students wereseverely depressed, 21 (20.4%) were moderately depressed, 17 (16.5%) were mildly depressed and 34 (33%) werenormal. The levels of stress in Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) patients was also assessed. Those who had extremelysevere stress were 6 (5.8%); 20 (19.4%) had severe stress, 15 (14.5%) had moderate stress, 20 (19.4%) were mildlystressed and 42 (40.8%) were normal. The highest number of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) patients i.e. 35 (34%)worked for 10-20 hours; 30 Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) patients (29%) had 30-40 working hours; 19 Irritable BowelSyndrome (IBS) patients (18.4%) worked for 20-30 hours; Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) patients working for morethan 40 hours were 19 (18.4%). 11 (10.7%) of the Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) patients were smokers. 28 (27.2%)patients had a positive family history for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).Conclusion: Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is predominantly found in females. It is more common in people havinghigh levels of anxiety.